Lawsuit Alleges Petco Altered Groomers’ Time Records to Avoid Paying Proper Wages

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Four former Petco Animal Supplies groomers allege in a collective/class action that the company intentionally falsified their time records by adding a daily lunch break regardless of whether any break was taken. By altering time records, Petco, the lawsuit claims, effectively reduced the number of compensable work hours recorded by groomers and, in turn, the straight and overtime pay owed for those hours.

Petco allegedly altered groomers’ recorded hours as a means of avoiding paying both proper regular and overtime wages. The lawsuit calls this apparent practice “part of a common corporate policy established and enforced centrally by Petco” to try to limit the number of paid work hours of groomers. From the complaint:

“This common policy of altering (overriding) the time records has been the policy, custom and practice in the Queens, NY, store and in the other stores where Plaintiffs worked, including but not limited to, Titusville, FL, Coeur d'Alene, ID, and Quincy, IL. 

Upon information and belief this common policy of altering (overriding) the time records has been the same policy, custom and practice established centrally by Defendant and applied by Defendant in the other 1,000+ stores to the thousands of other groomers.”

The plaintiffs claim they complained about these alleged practices, yet management apparently made no changes to its time recording procedures.