The world's biggest restaurant chain can add a few more to the growing pile of lawsuits they have accumulated from angry employees over wages. A Bloomberg report said lawsuits filed in Michigan, California and New York courts claim that McDonald's Corp has succumbed to means to be able to reduce the minimum amount of pay to its employees.
Complainants based from the Detroit area said that McDonalds do not pay them for overtime work and deduct their already below legal minimum payments for uniforms. Lawyer Joseph Sellers of Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC also said that some of the workers do not get proper break times or have proper meals during shifts. The law firm added also in a conference call with Bloomberg that there are also legal complaints filed in Alameda County and Los Angeles County state courts and in the Eastern District of New York federal court.
The said lawsuits challenged the fast food chain's implementation of just-in-time staffing, of which location work schedules are being calibrated based on sales projections weekly to maximize store profits. This, said Bloomberg, would often result to employees taken off payroll for minutes to hours. The complainants are seeking monies from unpaid hours, additional compensation and disgorged profits due to the business practices.
When the news agency asked about the lawsuits, spokeswoman Heidi Barker Sa Shekhem for Oak Brook, Illinois-based McDonald's said in a emailed statement, "We are currently reviewing the allegations. McDonald's and our independent franchisees are committed to undertaking a comprehensive investigation of the allegations and will take any necessary actions as they apply to our respective organizations."
Bloomberg said workers from McDonalds, along with Wendy's Co, Burger King Worldwide Inc and other fast food chain employees launched a strike last year, demanding that their labor sector should have the right to unionize and demand a $15 per hour wage across the board. The current federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour, but US President Barack Obama has already petitioned the Congress to increase it to $10.10 an hour.
