Over 2,500 city employees in San Diego City will benefit from a class action settlement for unpaid wages. The $6.2 million deal was approved by a California federal judge that will resolve claims that the city failed to properly pay lifeguards, police officers and other city employees for overtime under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The lawsuit claimed that not all forms of payment were considered when calculating overtime when working over 40 hours per work week.
Several cases which were filed against the city since 2017 for this alleged FLSA violation were consolidated into this one matter. It specifically alleged that affected city employees who did not spend all of their allocated flex benefit plan dollars would receive the unused portion as cash and that those payments should have been included into their regular rate of pay when calculating their overtime as required by the FLSA. By failing to include and properly calculate these extra earnings, city employees claimed that San Diego significantly underpaid them their overtime wages. Additionally, the workers argued that the city also violated the FLSA by not properly paying out compensatory accrued time off that should have included these benefit plan payouts in their regular rate of pay.
Failing to include all forms compensation when calculating overtime, has become far too common in several industries across the United States. All forms of payment, such as bonuses or benefit plan payouts, should be taken into consideration when it comes to your overtime pay. If you have questions about your payment structure or you are finding your pay stubs to be a bit confusing, do not hesitate to call us for a free and confidential phone consultation at (212) 300-0375. It is extremely important to understand how your employer is paying you in order to ensure you are receiving all the wages you are entitled to. You can also view our website here for additional resources on your rights.