Emergency Room Staff to Benefit from Hospital Staff Overtime Lawsuit Settlement

A hospital staff overtime lawsuit has resulted in a settlement of just over $119,000 for 197 emergency room employees at University Medical Center.

The Lubbock, Texas hospital agreed to settle allegations that it committed violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act covering overtime pay and record keeping.

Emergency room employees alleged they saw a 30-minute lunch deduction on their paychecks whether or not they really took their meal breaks because the hospital automatically deducted the lunch periods from timesheets.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division determined that by losing track of the workers’ break periods, the hospital also was in violation of the Fair labor Standards Act.

University Medical Center reportedly worked with the Department of Labor to settle the hospital staff overtime lawsuit. The hospital allegedly had a system in place for employees to report missed lunch periods, but the system reportedly failed to account for every missed lunch break. Automatic deductions for unpaid meal times are no longer in use at University Medical Center.

Hospital Staff Overtime Lawsuit Sheds Light on Nationwide Issue

We have hospitals to care for the sick, but hospitals are run like any other business. When medical staff are busy caring for the ill in an ER department, the staff often don’t have time to take a scheduled break or meal period.

Individual states have their own labor laws, too. In California, the labor law ensures employees earn fair wages among decent working conditions. If a nurse is scheduled for a 60-minute meal break five days a week, but only manages to take one 60-minute meal break all week, that nurse should be paid an additional four hours of pay for the four missed meal periods. If the nurse is not paid for the time worked, that could be a violation of California employment laws

You could be eligible to participate in this hospital staff overtime lawsuit investigation if you are a medical or administrative hospital worker and were subject to any California employment law violations in the past two to three years. Among the violations that could qualify you to participate in this investigation are:

• Failing to pay all overtime wages;
• Rounding time;
• Not calculating the regular rate of pay properly for purposes of paying overtime;
• Not paying at least minimum wages for all hours worked (relating to hours worked off-the-clock; if you were asked to punch out for the day, but told to finish your work after clocking out);
• Failing to provide employees with timely meal and/or rest breaks;
• Failing to pay employees one hour of pay for each missed meal or rest break;
• Not paying wages timely during employment and upon termination;
• Not paying the costs of mandatory pre-employment physical examinations;
• Not reimbursing work-related business expenses; and
• Not providing written notice of material terms of employment.

If you live in California and work at a hospital where you have not been properly compensated, you could be eligible to participate in this hospital staff overtime lawsuit investigation.

Join a Free California Wage & Hour Class Action Lawsuit Investigation

If you were forced to work off the clock or without overtime pay within the past 3 years in California, you have rights – and you don’t have to take on the company alone.

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