Hourly workers for Rite Aid have just filed a class action lawsuit against the pharmaceutical and convenience store chain for unpaid wages. The complaint alleges that Rite Aid failed to pay its hourly workers such as cashiers, pharmacy technicians, stockers, security guards, asset protections agents, and all other workers in similar non-exempt job titles the correct overtime rates and other wages. This lawsuit aims to recover overtime pay as well as other damages under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) and the New York Labor Law (“NYLL”) for current and former hourly workers that have been employed by Rite Aid in New York and across the United States.
Rite Aid pays its hourly workers on an hourly basis plus bonuses. Hourly Workers have claimed that the pharmaceutical and convenience chain failed to pay them correct overtime rate when they didn’t calculate their bonus pay into their regular hourly rate of pay, as required by the FLSA, when working over 40 hours in a workweek. Hourly workers also allege that despite being manual workers they were paid on a bi-weekly basis in direct violation of the NYLL. They consistently spent more than twenty-five percent of their shifts completing duties that were physical tasks. They included job duties such as sweeping floors, stocking shelves, stopping individuals trying to steal from worksites, installing alarm tags, removing secured items from shelves, and continuously standing and walking throughout their entire shifts. Due to the nature of their job duties, hourly workers should have been entitled to receive timely pay, just like manual workers, within seven calendar days in which their wages were earned as required by NYLL.
Unfortunately, failing to take into account all forms of payment, such as bonuses and commissions, when calculating overtime pay is a common tactic used by companies to cut costs at their employees’ expense. If you would like to know if you are eligible to participate in this lawsuit, do not hesitate to call our firm, Fitapelli & Schaffer, at (212)300-0375. Additionally, if you work in a similar industry and have concerns about your pay structure, you can call us for a free and confidential consultation or visit our website for more information.
You can also view the filed complaint here.