Amanda Antell  |  March 1, 2018

Category: Labor & Employment

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The Stanley Steemer carpet cleaning company is facing a putative class action wage and hour lawsuit from an employee raising claims of unpaid OT. The employee alleges the company failed to pay overtime wages to employees even though they regularly worked over 40 hours a week, along with other Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) violations.

Illinois plaintiff Michael B. is leading this putative class action wage and hour lawsuit, alleging he and other employees were owed unpaid OT and were forced to work off the clock before and after shifts. Even though they were regularly forced to work off the clock, employees were not allowed to claim compensation for this work.

Overview of FLSA Labor Law Violations

Under the FLSA, companies must pay a minimum rate of $7.25 per hour for regular hours worked by nonexempt employees. An employee is more likely to be deemed exempt if they make over $23,600 per year or have some kind of authority over other employees like hiring or firing people.

In the case of nonexempt employees, if employees work over 40 hours a week, they become eligible for overtime wages for those extra hours. In addition, nonexempt employees are also guaranteed a 30-minute meal break every five hours that must be spent not working.

Nonexempt employees are also eligible for 10-minute rest periods every four hours, which also requires the employee to completely cease working.

Michael also alleges he and other employees were regularly forced to work through meal breaks, but were not compensated on their paychecks. The putative class action wage and hour lawsuit ultimately alleges employees were forced to work off the clock and that Stanley Steemer was aware it was violating federal and state labor laws.

Under the FLSA, it is also illegal for employers to make an employee work off the clock. Even though Michael and other employees were allegedly owed unpaid OT, he claims Stanley Steemer failed to compensate them.

“Plaintiff, and members of the plaintiff class, were required to report to work in the morning and perform duties prior to clocking in, therefore performing work off the clock without pay all to the benefit of the defendant,” the class action wage and hour lawsuit says.

Michael further alleges the company was aware its business practices were illegal, but still withheld unpaid OT and required employees to work off the clock. These off the clock duties included loading and unloading trucks, cleaning vehicles, and other similar tasks.

Even though Stanley Steemer’s pay records should have reflected the long work hours, Bradley alleges he and other employees are still owed unpaid OT. Bradley is seeking three years of unpaid OT, along with any other relevant damage and declaration that Stanley Steemer’s business practices violated Illinois employment laws.

This Unpaid OT Class Action Lawsuit is Case No. 1:18-cv-01017, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

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3 thoughts onStanley Steemer Faces Employee’s Class Action Claim for Unpaid OT

  1. Lucy says:

    Stanley steemer, in Lexington Kentucky took advantage of me with my pay.

  2. Stacey says:

    Stanley Steemer changes hours and pays differently per job category causing pay confusion, expect work 18 to 20+ hours in a day expect be in next morning or less then 8 hours. Excuse is paid commission

    1. John Keenan says:

      Still up to the same old thing… I worked for a stanley steamer franchise in the early 1990s and was the same back then, straight commission pay. Be at work early to have a meeting and get your route of jobs for the day. Then stock your truck drive all over the county dealing with traffic and such then upon arrival at your job the people wouldnt be home or the truck would break down etc. all for 13 % of monies brought in. Also better not complain about it or the next day your route would consist of service calls to fix customer complaints all day for a whopping $5 bucks a stop. If you had a bad day and only brought in 100 bucks you would only get paid 13 dollars for the mostly 12 or more hour days. Then every Wednsday a sales meeting and the weekly sales list with everyones numbers and ranking would be posted. If you were at or near the bottom you would be threatened to be demoted or fired. To be honest though I got good at pressure sales tactics and rarely if ever made less than minimum wage on a weekly basis but you still felt taken advantage of.

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