Bank of America Sued for Nonpayment of Overtime

Overtime pay is a mandated employment benefit for working over 40 hours in a week. Employees have the right to be paid for going beyond their job duties, which is 1.5x their normal rate of pay.

• In the state of California, employees can earn double their normal rate for working over 12 hours in one day and 1.5x for working more than 8 hours in a day. In addition to the overtime pay benefits, the state also provides workers with a meal break and paid rest periods, when certain circumstances are met.

Bank of America Lawsuit

Although Bank of America feels that it is complying with overtime pay laws, this is not what their employees believe. A recent lawsuit reveals allegations from workers that the employer failed to properly pay their staff for the time they have vested into the company.

The lawsuit was filed in June 2010 in a Kansas federal district court and has been merged with 12 additional lawsuits from other states. The overtime pay suit seeks to cover current and former workers from call centers or bank branches within the last three years, which could reach nearly 180,000 employees and a potential payout in the hundreds of millions.

Among the many overtime pay allegations, workers are accusing the employer of making employees work throughout their unpaid breaks, failing to pay wages in a timely fashion after termination and not providing rest periods.

Violations of Fair Labor laws, such as overtime pay, can result in mandatory training, compensatory punitive damages and sanctions. A class action lawsuit may also bring unwanted and unsavory publicity to an employer.