Employee Pseudo-Benefits

Lieff Cabraser represents separate classes of hourly wage earners at Wal-Mart in the States of Washington and New York who allegedly have been forced to work “off-the-clock” which obviously work without pay. The plaintiffs for such cases are current and former Wal-Mart employees who claim that Wal-Mart has violated state wage and hour laws. Wal-Mart’s alleged misconduct drew a plethora of opinions among lobbyists. The lawsuits in New York and Washington charge that Wal-Mart, the self-proclaimed fastest growing and largest private employer in the United States, has systematically avoided paying employees their full, earned wages.

Wal-Mart provides a rather perverse set of incentives for managers to lower overhead costs, the largest component of which is employee payroll, by offering financial compensation and bonuses (www. lieffcabraser. com/wal-mart. html). Managers make under-staff projects and Wal-Mart stores in general. These efforts force employees to work off-the-clock and through lunch and rest breaks, which is deemed unethical and not apt for an employer to abuse its employees. Managers always pressure employees to complete tasks, while refusing to permit employees to stay on-the-clock for the full amount of time it takes to accomplish their duties.

The class action lawsuits include specific allegations that Wal-Mart: • “Understaff’s” its stores and pressures employees to complete assignments while refusing to permit employees to stay on-the-clock for the time it takes to accomplish them; • Denies pay for time worked off-the-clock, through meal or rest breaks, and overtime; and • Keeps employees locked in Wal-Mart stores after closing and requires that they remain there after clocking out until store managers have visited every department. (Longo, Donald, “Wal-Mart hands CEO crown to Glass – David Glass. ” Discount Store News, February 15, 1988)