Starbucks has been making its workers work off the clock—just a few minutes a day, it said! Nothing to worry about! But the California Supreme Court disagrees, saying it’s not okay for companies to break the law just so it’s only a few minutes per worker per day:
Liu’s opinion also rejected the district court’s assertion that Troester’s hypothetical extra $100 was insignificant. “That is enough to pay a utility bill, buy a week of groceries or cover a month of bus fares,” wrote Liu, “What Starbucks calls ‘de minimis’ is not de minimis at all to many ordinary people who work for hourly wages.”
The court’s ruling could have a dramatic impact throughout the state, forcing employers to rethink the way they calculate hours and increasing the amount of class action lawsuits from workers. According to a June 5 study by Good Jobs First and Jobs With Justice, California is actually already experiencing a vast wage theft crisis. That report found that U.S. corporations have paid out $8.8 billion in wage-theft claims over the last 18 years. More than half of those claims came from California.
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