Union Bank Failed to Include Bonuses in Overtime Rate Calculations, Lawsuit Alleges

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Union Bank and Trust Company has unlawfully failed to include bonuses in the calculation of employees’ overtime wage rates, a proposed collective action alleges.

According to the 11-page lawsuit filed by a Union Bank assistant branch manager, the defendant has run afoul of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) by excluding nondiscretionary bonuses from employees’ regular pay rates when calculating their time-and-a-half overtime rates, thereby underpaying the workers for the hours they put in over 40 each week.

The plaintiff further alleges that she has not been properly paid for every hour worked, including time spent working through her lunch breaks and answering phone calls after hours.

The case relays the plaintiff worked as a salaried employee at Union Bank’s Pawnee City location beginning in 2014 and has been classified since February 2019 as an hourly employee. Per the suit, the plaintiff’s duties include overseeing the day-to-day operation of the branch, assisting with employee staffing, providing banking services to customers and processing loans.

The lawsuit says hourly workers such as the plaintiff have received, in addition to their hourly wage, nondiscretionary bonuses based on branch and employee performance. Per the case, workers are informed of the bonuses upon their hiring and “expect to receive the bonuses” as part of their compensation package. The suit surmises that most, if not all, employees receive bonuses.

According to the case, however, Union Bank has failed to include bonuses as part of workers’ regular wages when calculating their time-and-a-half overtime rates. Although employees regularly put in more than 40 hours per week and have received bonuses during those pay periods, the defendant has failed to include the additional amounts in their overtime rates despite being required to do so under the FLSA, the lawsuit alleges.

The suit goes on to allege that the plaintiff sometimes worked hours for which she did not receive compensation, including when she was required to walk or drive papers to other locations to obtain signatures during her lunch breaks and after business hours. The plaintiff estimates she performed these errands, which usually lasted around 20 minutes each, about twice per week. Moreover, the plaintiff claims she was also required to answer work-related telephone calls, which took anywhere from five minutes to an hour, twice per week after hours.

According to the lawsuit, Union Bank “knew, or showed reckless disregard” for whether its pay practices violated the FLSA.

The plaintiff looks to represent all hourly Union Bank employees who, within the past three years, have received a bonus in connection with work performed during at least one week in which they worked over 40 hours.

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