Bank of America Settles Wage and Hour Class Action Lawsuit

Bank of America has tentatively agreed to pay $9 million to settle a California wage and hour class action lawsuit alleging it misclassified tellers and other part-time bank employees in order to short employee wages on paid time off and overtime.

U.S. District Judge Susan Ilston approved the Bank of America settlement motion for the unpaid wages and employee misclassification class action lawsuit that claims that Bank of America knowingly scheduled part-time employees more than the hours they were supposed to work. By misclassifying part time employees, Bank of America could allegedly avoid paying these employees overtime wages and appropriate vacation time.

Lead Plaintiff Sheri G. originally filed the CA wage and hour lawsuit against Bank of America in 2013 for violations of FLSA overtime rules. Sheri, a former teller, alleges that because she regularly was scheduled to work more than 20 hour per week, she is owed accrued vacation time based upon her actual hours worked and not based on her employee classification.

In addition to the FLSA overtime violations, the CA labor laws overtime class action lawsuit further claims Bank of America required over 180,000 employees to work off the clock, failed to provide accurate wage statements, and participated in unfair business practices.

California Overtime Laws

Overtime laws in California are more stringent than most other states. According to the Department of Industrial Relations, a California employer must pay overtime, whether for authorized or unauthorized overtime hours, at the following rates:

• Overtime: one and one half (1.5) times an employee’s regular rate of pay for hours worked over eight (8) in a workday or over forty (40) hours in a workweek.
• Double-time: two (2) times an employee’s regular rate of pay for hours worked over twelve (12) hours in a workday, or for hours worked over eight (8) hours on the seventh day of the workweek.

If an employee works seven consecutive days, he or she must be paid 1.5 times the usual rate for the first eight hours worked on the seventh consecutive workday, and double time for any hours worked over eight hours on the seventh workday.

Employee Misclassification

With new state regulations each year and with a new California minimum wage pay law established in 2014, employers often misclassify employees as exempt, intentionally or accidentally, to avoid paying costly overtime wages.

California employees paid salary or hourly may be eligible for overtime pay, whether they are paid weekly, bi-weekly or monthly. Being paid a salary does not automatically make an employee exempt from California overtime pay.

The Bank of America CA Wage and Hour Class Action Lawsuit is Case No: 3:13-cv-02223, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

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