Lawsuit Claims Overstock.com Call Center Employees Owed Unpaid Wages for Off-the-Clock Work

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A proposed class and collective action claims Overstock.com, Inc. has failed to pay call center employees for off-the-clock work.

The 19-page lawsuit, filed by a former employee, more specifically alleges that although call center workers were required to spend time before each shift booting up and logging into their computers, addressing computer issues during their shifts and logging off and shutting down after their shifts ended, they were not properly paid for this time.

According to the case, Overstock has violated federal and Washington state labor laws and owes employees unpaid minimum and overtime wages for their off-the-clock work.

The lawsuit alleges the online home goods retailer hires non-exempt call center employees to answer customer calls, fulfill orders, process payments, sell products and generally assist customers and clients. Per the suit, it is Overstock’s policy to require each worker to be logged into their computer and various applications and ready to receive calls as soon as their shift starts. As a result, workers are forced to spend up to 30 minutes before each shift turning on their computers, logging into various programs and making sure each program is running properly—all of which goes uncompensated, according to the case. The lawsuit states that call center workers are subject to discipline if they are not ready to take calls as soon as their shifts start.

“Therefore, the only way to be ready on time, and avoid discipline, is to prepare the computer ‘off-the-clock’ and without pay,” the complaint says.

The case argues that this login time is integral to employees’ jobs and therefore should be compensated at their time-and-a-half overtime rate since they typically work 40 hours per week.

The lawsuit goes on to claim that call center employees’ computers crash “multiple times each week,” requiring them to restart the machines and log into every required program during their shifts, which can take 10 minutes or more. According to the lawsuit, the workers are not paid for time spent rebooting their computers, addressing various technical issues or waiting for Overstock to address these concerns.

The suit further alleges that employees are required to clock out before logging out of work-related computer programs and shutting down their machines at the end of each shift. Per the case, this off-the-clock process takes “anywhere from three (3) to five (5) minutes or more each day.”

The lawsuit looks to represent hourly call center employees who were employed by Overstock.com, Inc. in the U.S. at any time from February 17, 2019 through the final disposition of this matter.

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