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PetSmart has agreed to a $10 million settlement in a collective wage and hour class action lawsuit filed against the company. If approved, the class action settlement funds will be distributed to 16,000 current and former animal groomers and other workers across 132 stores.
U.S. District Judge Edward J. Davila granted preliminary approval to the PetSmart class action settlement, which will release PetSmart from certain allegations pertaining to their payment methods towards their pet groomers. The plaintiffs stated that the company had violated state minimum wage laws, including nonexempt employees who were not paid, despite working on their meal breaks.
The PetSmart wage and hour lawsuit was originally filed in Alameda County Superior Court in 2012. It was originally filed on behalf of PetSmart groomers, but was expanded to include minimum wage and meal break violations for nonexempt, hourly employees. The class action lawsuit alleged that PetSmart violated state labor law by failing to compensate pet groomers for the time they spent performing non-grooming duties, such as stocking or cleaning. These allegations originated from a claim that PetSmart paid its stylists 50 percent of the net price of a grooming fee, which allegedly fails to cover the minimum wage requirement for non-grooming duties.
Additionally, the pet groomers claimed that PetSmart did not reimburse them for grooming tools they were required to purchase. Further, they argued the company did not provide them with suitable seats, had improperly calculated vacation pay, did not provide punctually scheduled payments after employees were terminated and failed to pay for meal break violations.
According to the class action lawsuit, the meal break violations were common because the break room was located in the back of store. On their way to the break room, employees would be occasionally forced to assist customers even when they had punched out for their break.
Both legal teams have indicated PetSmart has been cooperative in the litigation process, acknowledging the mistakes and weaknesses in their system. The company not only agreed to the class action settlement, but also vowed to work to correct these errors to prevent future violations. To start, this class action settlement will resolve PetSmart’s policy of only allowing 30 minute meal breaks between six and eight hour shifts, which violates the California labor law that mandates a meal period every five hours.
The PetSmart wage and hour settlement will cover all hourly employees and stylists, grooming trainees and salon managers who worked in California PetSmart stores from May 23, 2008 to the present. A sub-class for terminated employees stretches from May 23, 2009 to the present.
Overview of Wage and Hour Policy
Under federal law, the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requires that typical, covered employees be paid at least a minimum of $7.25 per hour. This wage must be paid for all hours worked, plus time and one-half regular rates for overtime pay. The only time an employee may be exempt from minimum wage is when they are of managerial or higher employment status, seasonal workers, or work in a tipped wage job, providing that the tips sufficiently meet minimum wage standards.
An approval hearing for the PetSmart settlement has been scheduled for March 7, 2014.
This PetSmart wage and hour lawsuit is Danette M. Moore, et al. v. PetSmart Inc., et al., Case No. 5:12-cv-03577, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
File a Wage and Hour Lawsuit Today
If you believe that you or a loved one have not received the wages you deserve, you have legal options. Please visit the Minimum Wage Lawsuits: Service Charge, Wage & Hour Class Action Lawsuit Investigation. There, you can submit your claim for a free legal review and if it qualifies for legal action, a seasoned wage and hour lawyer will contact you for a free, no-obligation consultation. You will be guided through the litigation process at no out-of-pocket expenses or hidden fees. The wage and hour attorneys working this investigation do not get paid until you do.
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97 thoughts onPetSmart Employees Win $10M Wage and Hour Settlement
Wow…do you know what your talking about? No you don’t, what the managers and corporate I might add, are demanding of us groomers is maximum dogs/cats, minimum time. That’s the reality, we are busting our asses to meet their expectation’s. You don’t think were hungry, we have to orchestrate our time, counting every minute with every task. Then were asked to clock out and finish our dogs cuz overtime is forbidden (which you should know). We can’t just pass our dogs off to someone else to take over, like the cashiers and everyone else can. Like I said, Do you know what your talking about. Answer, still NO! Well bye for now you have yourself a nice and timely lunch.
You know why we think that way, because the salon makes up 30% of the stores sales so they COUNT on us to rake in the cash , you better groom as u many dogs as u can get em out on time an make sure you don’t get over time , a lot of store mngrs , in not so many words, want u to clock out an work thru ur lunch…so if you don’t work in the salon an never have , shut your mouth cuz you don’t know what ur talking about . We work twice as hard as most of the store an get shit on , I’ve been there 15 yrs an 3 different stores .
Does anyone know what the standard settlement amount they are paying out is?I keep calling,and theyre only telling me it will be sent out , in June,I am getting a part of it,but I would like to know , if it will ne worth keeping up with it.
Joseph M. what is the number that you called? I want to follow up. I think that amount varied. For me if everyone submitted the claim it was like $450.
I too work for petsmart but I’m not a groomer. my store manager has to constantly go back there and demand people to take their breaks and lunches because they purposely go over to get over time pay. you guys are bullshit and it annoys me. everyone else in the store goes on their lunches when told except for you. groomers swear they are above, and you guys know exactly what I’m talking about.
Maybe you just have lazy groomers. Or could it be that they are working their ass off and don’t have a moment to breath…My kidneys are getting destroyed by this job…Too much to do and no time for a restroom break. Try working as a groomer for one day…You’d probably quit…Not on a slow day either…We work with peoples pets. They demand for us to have them done quickly, even after we explain the out time… Until you work in the groom salon.. Maybe just keep you bad comments to yourself..You cant help getting overtime when you’re working on a bad dog and doing customer service, all the same time…We don’t think we are above the rest of the store either.They just isolate us in the tiny box… I’m cool with everybody in my store.. Maybe you are the problem….Bad attitude, probably someone whose in a clique at the store.. Probably a brown noser….
I have yet to receive a letter about this. Anyone know if/when they’re being sent out?
They were sent out last year and the deadline to be included was December 2014
I currently work for Petsmart and not all stores function the same. At my current store all my groomers take their breaks and lunches accordingly without interruptions. They are a good company, unfortunately some store Managers aren’t working as they should to make sure our associates and our pet parents are happy. I’m pretty sure none of you took the time to talk to your managers or to look up P & P’s. Otherwise you would have voiced yourselves or called the careline that was in your break rooms.
I was a Presentation Mgr. and worked at 2 stores in California run totally differently. I reported concerns and complaints on behalf of the groomers. My experience with Petsmart not actually being a groomer myself but overseeing from a managers perspective is as follows, I agree with (angelize1107) above. As far as (Thatguy47) you must be in a management position with Petsmart. The issue with the reporting stuff up the ladder is you will get reprimanded at some point. I was bringing up issues and concerns and my store manager was not happy and eventually tried to weed me out, it took her about 1 year. When I found out about her vendetta against me via my Operations Mgr. I was trying to make sure I did my job to the fullest of my ability. Even when I succeeded in doing everything in my job description she would set me up, cut hours to maximize profits. This, with me increasing sales over previous year double-digit’s month after month. I reported her for making my job more difficult, she would delete work that I did and luckily I was smart enough to back it up and brought this up the district manager and corporate. Little did I know the district manager was a relative of hers. Eventually I was let go, corporate will always back up their managers first because it exposes them to bigger liabilities. They will however keep that manger under a watchful eye because now they have become a liability to the company as well. Luckily this was a blessing in disguise, I was able to get a job with my previous employer that had laid me off previously to working at Petsmart. The careline is only good to report anonymous issues to get issues looked into, not personal issues because it helps identify who the problem people are and it allows the companies to get rid of a bad apple. I ended up losing my job after I brought management above me into this situation.
I feel this needs to be a company wide lawsuit… I worked for them from May 2008 – July 2010 in 2 different states and it was the same everywhere I went. Groomers busted their butts groomed all day with out even having time for bathroom break. If a manager forced you to clockout for lunch most still groomed even though they were clocked out to get done on time and not upset a pet parent. If you didn’t groom then you barely made enough to make it worth it. Never in the years I was there did it get paid over time and there so many days I and other groomers worked 12+ hr days with well over 40 a week.
Yep that’s how it was where I worked we had to clock out yet continue grooming through lunch promised lunch later company’s are just wrong
I’m a groomer who quit Petsmart who left month ago. They took away managers from us that cared about the pets and wanted people who would want to work and make money because it would benefit the owners pets. Instead I agree they replaced them with people who are more worried about Pawgress reports and charge a fortune for a dog and lose returning clients.
I was a groomer for PetSmart who also quit almost a month ago. I was with the company for a little over 3 years, now they finally have something else to worry about other then those Pawgress reports! Money hungry company!! Don’t care about anything else!!!
I am a groomer at petsmart who quit two weeks ago. I had all of those problems at my store in eugene oregon as well. I was even told i wont be getting my unused vacation pay. I am not sure of the actions to take but im glad someones sticking it to this awful employer.
I was a groomer I was actually wrongfully fired because I defended myself when a male employee physically put his hands on me and would not let me go I broke away and slapped him no camera in grooming I had no prof…. Anyways they have to pay you out unused baca that’s time you put in id either seek an attorney to get even more or call corp and let them know there options :) good luck