Call Center Workers are frequently denied proper overtime compensation.

As our country has moved to a more service-oriented economy, the demand for telephone-dedicated employees has greatly increased.  These call center workers handle the hundreds, and even thousands, of telephone calls that are made each day to companies across the country.  Unfortunately, many of these companies do not properly track their employees' time or worse, require their employees to work off the clock.  These illegal policies often cause call center workers to work more than 40 hours in a week without receiving mandatory overtime compensation pay.

Current Call Center Cases

• APAC Customer Services

The US Department Of Labor has identified typical problems with overtime pay in call centers.

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) is the federal law governing when overtime pay is required of US employers.  The US Deptartment of Labor (DOL) is the administrative agency tasked with writing the regulations for the FLSA and helping to enforce the FLSA's requirements. 

Call centers are one of the industries that the DOL has considered problematic enough to prepare a fact sheet that points out the typical problems with call centers resulting in unpaid overtime.  Below is a Fact Sheet published by the United Stated Dept. of Labor concerning overtime requirements at call centers:

US Dept. of Labor Fact Sheet #64: Call Centers under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)(..pdf)

Uncompensated Work Before the Shift Starts

The "average day" in many call centers is the same:  The employee arrives to work and begins to log into a computer system.  The call center worker will then have to log into a number of computer programs - sometimes 10 or more.  The computers used by these workers are often older-models that run slower and less dependably than might be expected.  The telephone employees may be required to check their email, or read update memos before the shift starts.  Sometimes telephone-dedicated workers even have to attend meetings or undergo training before the shift's scheduled start-time.  When all of these tasks are completed, the call center worker will then "be ready to take the first call."  It is at this point, that many call center employers will consider the call center worker to have "clocked-in" and begin getting paid, rather than when the law requires which is when the employee actually begins performing work for the employer that is indispensible to the employee's job.

Unpaid Time After the Shift

A similar problem often exists at the end of the shift.  Some call centers stop paying their employees at the shift's scheduled ending time.  If the call center worker is still on a call, though, he or she cannot simply hang-up on the customer, so the employee keeps working.  The workers sometimes finish certain paperwork and then has to log-off of the different programs -- all without being paid.

How Much Unpaid Overtime Could This Be

At first blush, it might not seem like the call center workers' off the clock tasks are that much of a burden.  However, the time can really add up. For example, if a worker is required to work an extra 15 minutes of unpaid time each day, and we assume the employee works five, 8-hour shifts a week (i.e., a 40 hour workweek), and the employee works 50 weeks out of the year, then is equivalent to 62.5 hours of unpaid overtime each year.  If the employee is regularly paid $8.00 per hour, then this is $750 per year in overtime pay that the employee is being shorted every year.

How Much Money Can Be Recovered?

The payment of overtime premium pay (more commonly known as "time and a half") is generally governed by the FLSA.  Under the FLSA, an employee can recover unpaid overtime for either a two-year or three-year period (depending on whether the employer's violation of the law was willful).  The employee is also entitled to liquidated damages from the employer in an amount equal to the amount of overtime that was unpaid (unless the employer can show a good faith reason for the violation).  Additionally, most states have their own laws that supplement the FLSA - some of which provide for more expansive recovery.

Can my employer fire me for bringing an FLSA claim?

The FLSA has strict rules which prohibit an employer from firing or otherwise retaliating against an employee who brings a claim under the FLSA, including claims for unpaid overtime.  Retaliation is itself a claim under the FLSA and you should contact an attorney if you believe that you have been retaliated against for asserting your rights to proper overtime compensation.

What Can Be Done?

The FLSA lawyers at Lear Werts LLP have represented call center workers from across the country in their claims for unpaid overtime.  Every case is different, and there are no guarantees of how much can be recovered in a call center lawsuit.  To find out if you have a case, contact Todd Werts or Brad Lear at 1-877-875-1991, or send them an email through this link, to arrange a no-cost consultation and find out if your call center experience has given rise to a possible wage and hour lawsuit.