GM Class Action Alleges Call Center Reps Go Unpaid for Pre-Shift Work

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General Motors has been hit with a class action lawsuit over claims that the company requires customer service representatives to work 30 minutes each shift without pay.

Lead plaintiffs Jovena Hudson and Jawanda Hill of Michigan say that GM call center reps are not allowed to “clock in” during the start-up, log-in process which takes up to 15 minutes per day. The GM class action lawsuit further states that employees are not paid for the logging out process which takes up to an additional 15 minutes.

According to the plaintiffs, GM customer service reps are given a one-hour lunch break per shift, but again they are forced to log into and out of the computer programs during this time, which is not compensated.

The GM wage and hour class action lawsuit alleges that non-exempt, hourly employees should be paid for all work duties required under the Fair Labor Standards Act.

“Defendants used their attendance and adherence policies against the [customer service representatives] in order to pressure them into performing off-the-clock work,” the lawsuit claims.

According to the GM wage and hour class action, the U.S. Department of Labor does not approve of employers requiring employees to go without pay for pre-and-post shift activities.

Because call center representatives typically work 40 hours or more per week, the plaintiffs claim they should receive overtime pay at a rate of 1.5 times their regular rate of pay, as required under the FLSA.

The GM class action lawsuit states that “Defendants knew or could have easily determined how long it took for the [customer service representatives] working at the General Motors Technical Center to complete the pre-shift start-up/log-in process, the post-shift computer log-out process, and the lunch break work duties, and defendants could have properly compensated plaintiffs and the class for the work that they performed, but did not.”

According to the plaintiffs, a class action lawsuit is superior to individual lawsuits given the relatively small amount of damages at stake along with the “fear of reprisal by their employer.”

If approved, the GM class action lawsuit would be open to all customer service representatives who worked at the General Motors Technical Center in Warren, Mich. at any time during the last three years.

The call center employees are represented by Kevin J. Stoops and Jesse L. Young of Sommers Schwartz PC and Zachary Crosner of Crosner Legal PC.

The GM Wage and Hour Class Action Lawsuit is Hudson et al. v. General Motors LLC et al., Case No. 4:16-cv-10326, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.