A class action alleging Apple Inc.’s violation of provisions of the California labor code is set to proceed as a civil jury trial tomorrow in San Diego Superior Court. The class action, filed in 2011 and certified as a class in 2014, will affect approximately 20,000 current and former Apple employees within California. Plaintiffs seek “nominal damages, compensatory damages, restitution of all monies due from Defendant’s alleged unlawful business practices, declaratory relief, injunctive relief, and interest accrued to date” as damages.
The class alleges violations of many of the labor code’s bread and butter protections, such as provision of meal and rest breaks, accurate time-sheets and timely payment of wages upon ending employment. Specifically:
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Lab. Code § 512 and Cal. Lab. Code § 226.7 protect an employee’s
right to meal, rest and/or recovery periods.
- 512 provides an example of such a statute, requiring employers to provide an employee with a meal break of at least 30 minutes when they work for a period of at least five hours per day, subject to a few exceptions.
- 226.7 indicates that an employer may not require an employee to work during one of these periods when mandated pursuant to a statute, regulation, order or the like.
- Additionally, Cal. Code Regs. tit. 8, § 11040 is an example of a wage order that mandates employers to permit employees to take a 10 minute rest period for every 4 hours of work.
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Lab. Code §§ 201, 202 and 203 protect an employee’s right
to receive all wages that they are due upon ending employment.
- Lab. Code § 201 indicates that all wages earned and unpaid are due immediately at the time of discharge.
- 202 provides similar protection to those employees who quit employment.
- 203 provides a penalty for employers who fail to follow the previous sections, continuing wages of an employee as a penalty from their due date until paid or until an action therefor is commenced (for up to 30 days).
- And regulations such as Cal. Code Regs. tit. 8, § 11040 require employers to provide employees with accurate wage statements that includes various categories of information. Specifically, Cal. Lab. Code § 226 requires the statement to include gross wages earned, total hours worked by the employee, net wages earned and more.
The case is captioned Felczer v. Apple Inc. If you believe your employer has failed to abide by the above-mentioned labor code provisions or others, contact Kershaw Talley Barlow for a free case consultation.