Regulations and settlements
Recently the company I work for got sued for not following the meal and rest period regulations of California. Due to a class action lawsuit I am entitled to $8.15 for each thousand dollars I earned from 2001 to January 2007. This does entitle me to a few hundred dollars when the settlement is approved by the courts.
Before my company got sued for $4.3 million, there was a note on the employee handbook that a lunch period was required if you worked over 5 and a half hours, but the old lunch period was in interpretation because management needed us to serve the customers where lunch was needed if you worked over six and a half hours. Before Michaels Stores was sued for meal and rest period violations there have been numerous times where I was not given a lunch period and I feel justified to file for the settlement payment from the lawsuit.
There have been times in the past where I told my supervisors that I am an educated employee where I know pertinent state regulations where I asked for my one hour pay for not receiving my lunch break, but I never received that money, and now I have the opportunity to receive that money.
I find it absurd that half of my co-workers are not taking advantage of this settlement. Particularly the ones who have worked from 2001-2005, where the meal policy regulations were never followed properly by Michaels Stores. How can some say “The company has treated me well and I do not feel like suing them”, the company abused state regulations and think about the numerous lunch periods that were not offered to us in the past.