Hilton May Be Cheating At-Home Reservation Sales Reps Out of Wages and Overtime
Reports have surfaced that Hilton Worldwide may not be paying its home-based telephone agents all the compensation to which they are entitled.
According to the job description, and confirmed by the reports, Hilton’s reservation sales representatives are responsible for fielding inquiries and requests, handling complaints, providing information, introducing products and services, and “input and retrieve data using a computer reservations system.” Pay practices involving the last item on that list, however, may violate the federal Fair Labor Standards Act and state labor laws.
Regardless of whether they work at home or in brick-and-mortar locations, call center workers have been targets of industry-wide wage theft and abuse, a danger that the prompted the U.S. Department of Labor to issue a warning of illegal pay practices. Like other call center employers that require agents to use computer systems to perform their jobs but don’t properly compensate hourly workers, Hilton is suspected of failing to pay reservation sales representatives for all the time they spend:
- Booting up computer systems, logging into applications, and downloading work instructions before beginning their shifts;
- Waiting on hold with technical support when disconnected from computer systems and networks;
- Shutting down applications and computers after ending their shifts; and
- Reading work-related emails before and after their shifts.
These “off the clock” tasks account for a significant amount of time, sometimes several minutes each day, and can push work hours beyond 40 hours a week for which employees must be paid overtime at time-and-a-half.
The attorneys in Sommers Schwartz Employment Litigation Group are now interviewing individuals who worked as Hilton reservation sales reps regarding their suspicions of unpaid wages and overtime. If you worked for Hilton Worldwide in this capacity or have information to share, please contact us today!
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.