![[US] Kroger payroll lawsuit filed](http://globalpayrollassociation.com/cdn/shop/articles/bigstock-Novi-Michigan-January-----404756213_1200x.jpg?v=1674847261)
A federal lawsuit has been filed by the union representing Kroger employees in Virginia, West Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee. It alleges that the supermarket chain has failed to pay employees for all the hours they worked, including overtime wages, The Tennessean reports.
United Food & Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 400 Union represents around 13,000 Kroger workers. It filed the lawsuit on January 26 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. At present, it lists four plaintiffs from Virginia and West Virginia but seeks to make the filing into a class-action lawsuit.
According to the union it has received more than 1,000 complaints from workers who say they have received incomplete paycheques and that the company has improperly deducted taxes and health care premiums. The issues are all reportedly related to a new payroll system called “MyTime,” which the company launched last year, according to the union.
“This is wage theft, plain and simple," UFCW Local 400 President Mark Federici said in a union press release. "When you work for an employer, you should be compensated completely and correctly for every minute you work, and if you aren’t, then your employer is stealing from you.”
A Kroger company representative declined to comment on the lawsuit.
The claims
The lawsuit currently lists four plaintiffs who allege that the "MyTime" (also known as the "MyInfo") payroll system did not process their paycheques on time and/or had erroneous deductions from their pay.
One Kroger employee - from Mechanicsville, Virginia - claims she worked 54.75 hours one week but was not paid time and a half for the additional 14.75 hours of overtime. The lawsuit asserts that Kroger was told about the error but failed to correct it.
Another employee from Appomattox, Virginia alleges that he went more than a month without receiving a paycheque despite working 40 hours each week. One employee at a Kroger in West Virginia quit in frustration after failing to be paid for four weeks, the union said.
The payroll glitch
According to the worker's union, employees have reported a number of issues associated with the payroll system.
In addition to incomplete paycheques and missed overtime, they reportedly include some holiday work not being paid, some health care premiums not being paid, personal holidays and vacations not being paid, a problem scheduling personal holidays in the system, overcharging for health insurance and missing company contributions to health benefits.
Claims in Tennessee
According to Kroger, it operates 121 stores in Tennessee, including 15 stores in Nashville, and in total the grocery chain employs more than 18,000 in the state.
The union could not immediately say how many employees it represents in Tennessee. But its representatives reportedly believe the payroll problem is companywide.
"We have reason to believe this affects every worker," union spokesman Jonathan Williams told The Tennessean. "This problem is certainly national."
Source: The Tennessean
(Links and quotes via original reporting)
A federal lawsuit has been filed by the union representing Kroger employees in Virginia, West Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee. It alleges that the supermarket chain has failed to pay employees for all the hours they worked, including overtime wages, The Tennessean reports.
United Food & Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 400 Union represents around 13,000 Kroger workers. It filed the lawsuit on January 26 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. At present, it lists four plaintiffs from Virginia and West Virginia but seeks to make the filing into a class-action lawsuit.
According to the union it has received more than 1,000 complaints from workers who say they have received incomplete paycheques and that the company has improperly deducted taxes and health care premiums. The issues are all reportedly related to a new payroll system called “MyTime,” which the company launched last year, according to the union.
“This is wage theft, plain and simple," UFCW Local 400 President Mark Federici said in a union press release. "When you work for an employer, you should be compensated completely and correctly for every minute you work, and if you aren’t, then your employer is stealing from you.”
A Kroger company representative declined to comment on the lawsuit.
The claims
The lawsuit currently lists four plaintiffs who allege that the "MyTime" (also known as the "MyInfo") payroll system did not process their paycheques on time and/or had erroneous deductions from their pay.
One Kroger employee - from Mechanicsville, Virginia - claims she worked 54.75 hours one week but was not paid time and a half for the additional 14.75 hours of overtime. The lawsuit asserts that Kroger was told about the error but failed to correct it.
Another employee from Appomattox, Virginia alleges that he went more than a month without receiving a paycheque despite working 40 hours each week. One employee at a Kroger in West Virginia quit in frustration after failing to be paid for four weeks, the union said.
The payroll glitch
According to the worker's union, employees have reported a number of issues associated with the payroll system.
In addition to incomplete paycheques and missed overtime, they reportedly include some holiday work not being paid, some health care premiums not being paid, personal holidays and vacations not being paid, a problem scheduling personal holidays in the system, overcharging for health insurance and missing company contributions to health benefits.
Claims in Tennessee
According to Kroger, it operates 121 stores in Tennessee, including 15 stores in Nashville, and in total the grocery chain employs more than 18,000 in the state.
The union could not immediately say how many employees it represents in Tennessee. But its representatives reportedly believe the payroll problem is companywide.
"We have reason to believe this affects every worker," union spokesman Jonathan Williams told The Tennessean. "This problem is certainly national."
Source: The Tennessean
(Links and quotes via original reporting)