Benchmark Senior Living Unpaid Wages Lawsuit Investigation: Miscalculated Overtime Rates?

Attorneys working with ClassAction.org are investigating whether a class action lawsuit can be filed on behalf of hourly Benchmark Senior Living employees who may have been illegally underpaid for overtime hours.

Specifically, the attorneys suspect the company, which operates a network of senior living communities across the Northeast, could be violating federal labor law by failing to factor in extra shift bonuses, shift differentials and other types of non-discretionary pay when determining employees’ overtime rates, resulting in underpayment. They also believe Benchmark may have unlawfully failed to pay employees for time spent working through meal periods.

A class action lawsuit may be able to help hourly workers get back any unpaid wages they could be owed.

How Can Overtime Rates Be Miscalculated?

Under federal labor law, a covered employee’s overtime rate is one-and-a-half times their regular rate of pay for all hours worked in excess of 40 per week.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, a worker’s regular rate is their average hourly rate for a specific pay period, including all compensation they received for performing their job, with certain exceptions.

The federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requires employers to factor in any additional wages earned during a pay period—such as shift differentials or non-discretionary bonuses—when determining a worker’s regular rate. As an employee’s regular pay rate informs their overtime rate, failure to account for these types of extra compensation could throw off overtime wage calculations and cause the worker to be underpaid.

Attorneys are looking into whether extra shift bonuses, shift differentials and other non-discretionary pay are being included properly in Benchmark employees’ regular rates for the purpose of determining overtime wages. If the company is leaving them out, it may be violating the FLSA, and workers could be owed unpaid wages.

What About Unpaid Wages for Meal Breaks?

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) stipulates that bona fide meal breaks of at least 30 minutes do not qualify as hours worked and are unpaid. During a meal period, however, an employee must be relieved of all job duties. Under the FLSA, if they work during the meal break, they must be paid for the time worked.

By way of example, a lawsuit filed against Target in October 2019 claimed that 30-minute meal periods were automatically deducted from certain employees’ hours even though they were often unable to take full breaks. The plaintiff contended that because he and other “leaders on duty” were required to be available at all times to run the store or address any issues, they were frequently forced to work through meal periods. The Target employee alleged that he and other workers were owed wages for the times they worked through breaks without compensation.

With regard to Benchmark, attorneys are investigating whether hourly employees are being compensated properly when they work through a meal period.

How Could a Benchmark Class Action Lawsuit Help?

If filed and successful, a class action lawsuit against Benchmark Senior Living could force the company to modify its pay practices so they’re in step with federal labor law. A Benchmark lawsuit could also help affected workers recover money for any miscalculated overtime wages or meal breaks that were worked through without pay.

It’s important to note that employers are prohibited by law from retaliating against employees for exercising their legal rights.

What You Can Do

After you fill out the form, an attorney or legal representative may reach out to you with some questions and information about how you may be able to get a lawsuit started. It costs nothing to fill out the form or speak with someone, and you’re not obligated to take legal action if you don’t want to.

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