A class action lawsuit brought by Papa John’s employees for unpaid wages in 2018 has been settled pending court approval. The hourly franchise and corporate employees have asked a California federal judge to approve a $3.4 million settlement to resolve claims that the fast food pizza chain failed to pay its employees for mandatory training.
The lawsuit alleged that hourly employees were forced to complete mandatory company wide training while off-the-clock. Each employee had to complete approximately 20 hours of unpaid training while logged into the corporate website. Although corporate has a policy that employees must be compensated for this time, the complaint alleged that many of its employees including those at franchised locations went unpaid for the time spent completing training. Even though Papa John’s denies these allegations, they have agreed to resolve these claims in order to avoid further litigation costs. Thousands of employees stand to benefit from this settlement once they receive notice and choose to opt-in.
Unfortunately, companies often do not compensate its employees for time spent during training periods. If you believe you’ve experienced this in your industry, you may have a claim for unpaid wages. Hourly employees should be compensated for all hours worked at their regular hourly rate and be paid at time-and-a-half that rate if they end up working over 40 hours per work week. Fitapelli & Schaffer offers a free and confidential phone consultation if you have any question regarding this issue. Feel free to reach us at (212) 300-0375 to discuss your claims with an available representative or check out our website for additional helpful information.