GEICO has agreed to pay $900,000 to resolve multiple lawsuits alleging that the company failed to properly pay call center employees for all hours worked. A federal judge in Georgia recently gave final approval to the settlement, bringing an end to claims that workers were required to perform unpaid work before and after their scheduled shifts.
The lawsuits alleged violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act, or “FLSA”, which requires employers to pay overtime when employees work more than forty hours in a workweek. According to the workers, call center employees were expected to perform pre-shift and post-shift tasks that were essential to their jobs, yet that time was not always recorded or compensated. When unpaid minutes are excluded from time records, workers can lose both regular wages and overtime pay.
The settlement covers approximately 2,100 call center workers. As part of the agreement, several named workers will receive additional payments related to retaliation claims, while the remainder of the settlement fund will be distributed to eligible employees based on unpaid overtime.
Cases like this highlight a common wage and hour issue in call centers and office-based jobs. Employers often require workers to log into systems, boot up computers, review messages, or complete other tasks before clocking in or after clocking out. Under federal law, this time is generally compensable when it is integral and indispensable to the employee’s work.
Unpaid pre-shift and post-shift work can add up quickly, especially in jobs with strict schedules and high performance expectations. Even a few unpaid minutes per shift can result in hundreds or thousands of dollars in lost wages over time.
If you work in a call center or another hourly position and believe you were required to work off-the-clock, denied overtime pay, or retaliated against for raising concerns about your wages, you may have legal rights. Fitapelli & Schaffer represents workers nationwide in wage and hour matters and offers free and confidential consultations. You deserve to be paid for every minute you work.