Maldonado v. Epsilon Plastics, Inc.

When an employer is accused of having improperly implemented an alternative work schedule, the employer bears the burden of proving compliance with the procedural requirements to adopt that schedule. Workers who receive an award of damages for overtime that was unpaid because of an employer's improper adoption of an alternative work schedule have the burden of proving the number of hours they worked, which required them to prove whether they had worked through scheduled meal breaks. An employer's subjective good faith belief that wages were not due is insufficient to show the employer did not willfully fail to pay wages to an employee within the meaning of Labor Code Sec. 203. Evidence an employer made no inquiry into whether its successor had properly adopted an alternative work schedule is sufficient to defeat the employer's claim of good faith. Inaccurate wage statements alone do not justify penalties. Wage statements should include the hours worked at each rate and the wages earned, but when there is a wage and hour violation, the hours worked will differ from what was truly earned. Only the absence of the hours worked will give rise to an inference of injury, since the absence of accurate wages earned will be remedied by the violated wage and hour law itself.

Maldonado v. Epsilon Plastics, Inc. - filed April 18, 2018, publication ordered May 8, 2018, Second District, Div. Eight
Cite as 2018 S.O.S. 2210

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