Best Buy Overtime Pay Lawsuit Alleges Bonus System Miscalculates Wages

A group of Best Buy workers in California have filed an overtime pay lawsuit alleging the consumer electronics retailer’s bonuses are miscalculated, thereby shorting workers overtime pay.

Filed Monday in California state court, the overtime pay lawsuit says that Best Buy defers bonus payment into monthly and quarterly increments, but does not apportion these employee productivity retention bonuses to the weeks they were earned – in violation of California labor laws.

According to the Best Buy employees, since the bonuses are not included in their regular pay rates, any overtime worked for a particular week is actually less than it should be.

“The miscalculation and underpayment of such overtime wages resulted in the wage statement provided to plaintiff and the other class members being inaccurate,” the overtime pay lawsuit says.

The complaint states Best Buy gives these bonuses to nonexempt employees as an incentive to reach production goals as well as to retain seasonal workers.

In the case of production bonuses, weekly overtime rates are determined by dividing the production bonus rate by the number of total regular and overtime hours worked.  The resulting number is then multiplied by .5, and that number is multiplied by the worker’s number of overtime hours.

For retention bonuses, Best Buy awards these at a flat rate. Overtime on a flat rate bonus is calculate by dividing the bonus rate by only the number of hours worked.  The resulting number in then multiplied by 1.5 and that figure is then multiplied by the number of overtime hours worked, according to the overtime pay lawsuit.

However, the Best Buy workers say this system is flawed as the overtime calculations are not as clear when the bonuses are deferred into monthly or quarterly increments.  Essentially, the workers contend that Best Buy cannot just assume that employees earn an equal amount of bonus each week.

The workers assert that Best Buy fails to properly apportion or allocate monthly production bonuses to employees’ respective workweeks. This, in turn, leads to lower pay rates for both hourly and overtime compensation.

Filing an Overtime Pay Lawsuit in California

Under California labor law, nonexempt employees are required to be paid overtime if they work beyond eight hours in any workday or more than six days in any workweek.

The overtime rate should be paid at not less than one and one-half times their regular rate of pay for all hours worked in excess of eight hours up to and including 12 hours in any workday, and for the first eight hours worked on the seventh consecutive workday in a workweek.

If an employee works in excess of 12 hours in any workday or works in excess of eight hours on the seventh consecutive day of work in a workweek, he or she must be paid double the regular rate of pay for those excess hours.

If you are employed in California and feel that your employer has violated a state or federal employment law, you may qualify for damages that may be awarded in a possible unpaid overtime pay lawsuit.

The Best Buy Overtime Pay Lawsuit is Mari S. B. v. Best Buy Stores LP, Case No. BC645925 in the Superior Court of the State of California, County of Los Angeles.

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