Appeals Court Restores Employer's Affirmative Defense of Rounding Off in Wage and Hour Class Action

October 29, 2012

See?s Candy Shops, Inc. v. Superior Court (Silva) - filed October 29, 2012, Fourth District, Div. One
     Cite as D060710

Where plaintiff sued employer for failing to pay all wages earned, and employer pled as an affirmative defense that any shortfall in plaintiff?s pay was a result of a lawful practice of rounding "punch-in" and "punch-out" times to the nearest one-tenth of an hour for administrative convenience, trial court erred in granting summary adjudication to plaintiff on that defense. Assuming a rounding-over-time policy is neutral, both facially and as applied, the practice is proper under California law because its net effect is to permit employers to efficiently calculate hours worked without imposing any burden on employees.

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