Bath & Body Works On-Call Scheduling Alleged to Violate California Labor Laws

This lawsuit alleges that Bath & Body Works retail practice of scheduling employees for “on-call shifts” and the compensation paid related to the practice violated California Wage and Labor Code requirements. 

Bath & Body Works LLC (BBW), a Delaware limited liability company, and parent company L Brands Inc. (DJIA:LB), sell women's apparel and beauty products in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom through specialty retail stores, websites, and catalogues. The companies offer a variety of products including women's apparel, women's lingerie, beauty and personal care products, home fragrances, and other related products and accessories.

Shayna Broadstone worked as a sales associate at several BBW stores in California from June 2011 through June 2015.  Kristine Billon was an associate at the BBW Mission Viejo store in November through December 2014.  Both employees were frequently scheduled to work “on-call" shifts, which involve a set scheduled start time and a set scheduled ending time. Broadstone and Billon both report that when they "reported" to work as they were required to by calling their employer and were informed that they were not required to work their shift,  they were not paid the required reporting pay on such occasions.

On October 19, 2015, Broadstone and Billon filed their class action complaint (Superior Court for the State of California County of Orange) challenging what is described as a new form of wage theft – the practice of scheduling employees in retail stores for "on-call" shifts but failing to pay the employees required reporting time pay. "On-call" shifts differ from regular shifts in that the employee must contact the employer a short time before the start of the scheduled on call-shift to find out whether the employee needs to work the "on-call" shift. The on-call shifts scheduling consequences include:        (a) inhibiting an employee's ability to look for or obtain other employment; (b) requiring employees who are single working parents to arrange child care for their children even though they ultimately might not have to work; and (c) inhibiting an employee's ability to plan activities on days they are scheduled for an "on-call" shift.  The company only compensate an employee if he/she is actually required to work the "on-call" shift and do not credit their employees for "reporting to work" when the employee establishes contact with the employer.  

The complaint alleges multiple California Wage and Labor Codes violations, including:

·      Failure to Pay Reporting Time Pay (8 CCR § 11070(5));

·      Failure to Pay All Wages Earned At Termination (Labor Code §§ 200-203);

·      Failure to Provide Accurate Wage Statements (Labor Code §226, 226.3); and

·      Violations of the Unfair Competition Law (Bus. & Prof. Code §§ 17200 et seq).

The complaint seeks class certification for all California residents who were BBW employees since October 14, 2011 and who: (a) reported for work; (b) were not put to work or were furnished less than half their scheduled day's work; and (c) were not paid the greater of two hours at their regular rate of pay and one-half of their scheduled day's work at their regular rate of pay (with two subclasses).

Article Type: Lawsuit
Topic: Employment
Tags: Employment Violations, Failure to Pay Reporting Time Pay, On-Call Shifts, Your Job