PacSun Hit With On Call Scheduling Class Action Lawsuit

Pacific Sunwear of California Inc., more commonly knowing to mall-goers as PacSun, is the recent target of an on call work retail class action lawsuit.

Plaintiff Shayna Broadstone, a former employee of PacSun, said the company’s on call scheduling practices caused her lost wages and erratic scheduling, according to the on call scheduling class action lawsuit.

Broadstone states that she was not paid at all for the times she was not required to show up. She was required to call in an hour before the designated start time of her shift to see if she needed to report. On days when she was not working, she was also required to call in.

The on call lawsuit states, “In reality, these on-call shifts are no different than regular shifts. Defendants have misclassified them in order to avoid paying reporting time in accordance with applicable law.”

About On Call Scheduling

In the retail work environment, on call scheduling is when retail salespeople are required to call in before their shift is about to start to see if management approves for them to go into work. Employees are usually given work schedules weekly of the times they need to be available, but they often don’t know until the last minute if they will actually be given the go-ahead to come in to work for their designated shift.

According to employment laws, this kind of inconsistent on call scheduling is considered wage theft. According to California law, for each work day an employee is scheduled to report to work but is later not required to show up, the employee should be paid for half of the scheduled work time.

Retail Companies Under Fire For On Call Work

In April 2015, the attorney general of New York sent a letter to many large retail companies who schedule their employees using on call scheduling. The letter stated that their on call work practices were potentially in violation of New York state law.

The following companies were named in the warning letter, and several companies on the list have already begun phasing out on call scheduling and are adding more stability, fairness and monetary compensation to their employees’ lives:

• Abercrombie & Fitch
• Ann Inc. (Ann Taylor, Loft)
• Burlington Stores Inc.
• Crocs Inc.
• Gap Inc. (includes Old Navy and Banana Republic)
• JC Penney Co.
• J Crew Group Inc.
• L Brands Inc. (The Limited Inc., Victoria’s Secret, Bath & Body Works)
• Sears Holdings Corp.
• Target Corp.
• TJX Cos. (TJ Maxx, Home Goods, Marshall’s, Sierra Trading Post)
• Urban Outfitters
• Williams-Sonoma Inc.

On Call Lawsuit Information

With common social media hashtags like #retaillife #retailproblems and #oncallwork, employees sometimes just resign themselves to working conditions that are less than ideal. Many retail jobs, especially in mall-based stores, are often filled by younger workers who may not know their legal rights.

Other times, retail workers are just trying to stay afloat with any job they can get, and don’t want to rock the boat, because having no job with no money is worse than at least having some employment and a paycheck, even if it is less stable than desired.

If you believe your employer may be in violation of on call laws by participating in on call scheduling, you may be a victim of wage theft and may be entitled to legal compensation.