One Contact Customer Service Agents Risk Being Cheated Out of Overtime

Specific reports have surfaced that One Contact requires U.S. based call center workers to work “off the clock” without compensation to complete certain job-related tasks:

• Logging onto company computer systems and applications before beginning their daily shifts;
• Logging out of those systems and applications after ending their shifts each day; and
• Addressing technical problems when they are disconnected from systems and applications.

These tasks can take several minutes each day to complete, which often pushes an employee’s hours beyond 40 hours per week – triggering overtime pay at 150% of the employee’s base hourly rate under the FLSA.

Unfortunately, this type of compensation abuse is not new. In July 2008, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage & Hour Division issued Fact Sheet #64, in which it alerted call center employees of certain illegal pay practices that are prevalent in the industry. The agency specifically condemns call center employers’ practice of failing to pay workers for the necessary job activities performed before and after their shifts.

Attorneys in Sommers Schwartz Employment Litigation Group are now interviewing One Contact call center workers across the country to determine if their employment rights were violated and whether they may be owed unpaid wages and overtime. If you were employed by One Contact in the U.S. during in the past three years as a call center agent, customer service representative, or customer service specialist, please contact us today to discuss your situation.