Reports have surfaced that customer service representatives employed by Benefit Administrative Systems (BAS) are being cheated out of overtime compensation.

The call center reps, who work at the company’s brick-and-mortar locations, allege that they regularly perform job duties “off the clock” without pay, a violation of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and state labor laws.

The alleged wage abuse involves forcing the reps to log onto BAS computer systems and applications before beginning their shifts each day, and to log out those systems and applications after ending out of their daily shifts. BAS uses a program to track employee hours and attendance, but it fails to account for these pre- and post-shift tasks.

And the time it takes to log in and out can be substantial, several minutes each day that regularly exceed the reps’ forty-hour workweek. Under state and federal law, that additional time warrants overtime pay at 150% of an employee’s base hourly rate.

Wage abuse in the call center industry is a common problem that the U.S. Department of Labor has been watching closely. In July 2008, the agency’s Wage & Hour Division issued Fact Sheet #64 to alert employees of unlawful pay practices and condemn call center companies’ practice of failing to pay them for the necessary pre- and post-shift job activities.

The attorneys in Sommers Schwartz Employment Litigation Group are currently investigating these reports and are Benefit Administration Systems call center employees about their experiences and to determine if their rights were violated. If you were employed by BAS in the U.S. during in the past three years as a customer service representative, please contact us today to discuss your situation and whether you may be owed unpaid wages and overtime.

Kevin J. Stoops

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Kevin J. Stoops

Kevin Stoops is an experienced trial attorney who appears frequently in Michigan state courts and federal courts across the United States, representing clients in complex business litigation. He has vast experience and a track record of successful outcomes high-dollar matters involving trade secret, business tort, intellectual property, executive employment, and class action claims.

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