Lawsuit Claims Nestlé Waters Failed to Properly Calculate California Drivers’ Wages

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A proposed class action claims Nestlé Waters North America, Inc. has failed to pay drivers proper wages as a result of excluding non-discretionary remuneration from their regular pay rates.

According to the case, Nestlé failed to take into account non-discretionary pay, or bonuses, when calculating employees’ overtime wages, sick time pay and premium pay owed for missed meal and rest breaks. As a result, drivers were systematically underpaid, the lawsuit alleges.

The plaintiff says he worked as a driver for Nestlé between July 2007 and July 2020. Though he and other drivers often worked more than 40 hours per week, the defendant failed to properly calculate their time-and-a-half overtime rate in that Nestlé failed to account for non-discretionary remuneration, such as incentive pay, shift differentials or shift premiums, as part of the workers’ regular pay rates for the purpose of calculating overtime, according to the lawsuit.

The case goes on to claim that the same policy affected drivers’ sick time pay and premium pay for missed breaks. According to the suit, Nestlé left out non-discretionary compensation when calculating employees’ regular rates of pay for the purposes of paying out unused sick days and compensating workers for 30-minute meal breaks and 10-minute rest periods that were missed or interrupted. 

Per the complaint, drivers were frequently interrupted from or unable to take breaks due to the defendant’s policy that required workers to carry cell phones and/or handheld computers and respond to calls during break periods. Because the drivers were paid meal and rest break premiums at their base rates instead of the higher rate that included the extra earned wages, the workers are owed additional premium pay, the lawsuit argues.

The case goes on to claim that drivers were denied accurate, itemized wage statements in accordance with California law as a result of the forgoing.

Initially filed in Kern County, California Superior Court, the lawsuit was removed to the state’s Eastern District Court on December 14, 2020.

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