Current and former healthcare employees alleged that their employers failed to compensate them for work performed during required training sessions, during meal breaks, and before and after scheduled shifts.

In their complaints, the employees named corporate healthcare systems, individual hospitals in those systems, individuals in corporate leadership roles, and affiliated healthcare facilities. In four separate cases, the employees maintained that those parties violated the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), the New York Labor Law (NYLL), and other laws.

Specifically, the employees said their employer had a policy of not paying employees for all hours work, including some overtime. The employees maintained that their employer required them to attend training sessions but did not compensate them for that time, automatically deducted time for meal breaks from their paychecks—even though they were consistently required to work during such breaks and did not pay them for work performed before and after their shifts. They filed suit to recover unpaid wages.

In a single order, the district court dismissed the complaint in each of the four cases, because the employees did not present sufficient factual allegations. That is, the employees did not explain when their unpaid wages were earned and how many hours they worked without compensation; their dates of employment, pay, and positions; and which entity directly employed them. The court also concluded that they had no basis for a collective or class action.

The employees appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit, which includes New York, Vermont, and Connecticut, on behalf of a class of healthcare workers.

The appeals court affirmed the district court’s decision in part, vacated it in part, and sent the case back to district court for additional proceedings.

The court affirmed the dismissal of the employees’ FLSA and NYLL overtime claims but said the employees may replead those claims.

Under the FLSA and the NYLL, an employee must be paid at least 1.5 times his or her regular rate of pay for any hours worked in excess of 40 hours per week. “The FLSA also permits employers and employees in the healthcare field to agree that overtime will be calculated on the basis of eighty hours worked over 2 weeks instead of 40 hours worked over 1 week,” the court noted. However, the court did not address how that provision relates to this particular case.

In this case, the employees alleged that they were not paid for work performed during required trainings, during meal breaks, and before and after shifts.

However, the appeals court said the district court properly dismissed the overtime claims, because the employees did not provide enough details to state a claim. Their allegations “raise the possibility that … [they] were undercompensated in violation of the FLSA and NYLL; however, absent any allegation that … [the employees] were scheduled to work forty hours in a given week, these allegations do not state a plausible claim” for relief under those laws. “To plead a plausible FLSA overtime claim…. [the employees] must provide sufficient detail about the length and frequency of their unpaid work to support a reasonable inference that they worked more than 40 hours in a given week.” Instead, the employees “merely alleged that they were not paid for overtime hours worked.”

In contrast, the appeals court referenced a similar case in which an employee “alleged that she was typically scheduled to work 37.5 hours per week over three shifts, with an additional 12.5 hour shift on occasion.

She further alleged that she typically worked through her 30 minute meal break, worked an additional 15 minutes before or after her scheduled shift, and was required to attend monthly staff training of 30 minutes and an additional respiratory therapy training totaling 10 hours per year.”

Although the employee in that case did not establish that she worked at least 40 hours per week, the court noted that she provided a much higher level of specificity. Nakahata, et al. v. New York-Presbyterian Healthcare System, Inc., et al. (Nos. 11-0734, 11-0710, 11-0713, 11-0728) (U.S. Court of Appeals, 2nd Cir., 7/11/13)

Training supervisors and managers on wage and hour laws can help ensure that an employer’s compensation practices comply with federal and state requirements. Supervisors need to know that, under certain circumstances, hourly employees are entitled to be compensated for training, meal breaks, and work performed before and after their shift.

For example, time that hourly employees spend in meetings, lectures, or training programs is considered hours worked and must be paid, unless: (1) attendance is outside regular working hours; (2) attendance is voluntary; (3) the course, lecture, or meeting is not related to the job; and (4) the employee does not perform any productive work while attending the meeting or training program.

“Bona fide meal periods (typically 30 minutes or more) generally need not be compensated as work time,” the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division explained in a fact sheet about the FLSA. “The employee must be completely relieved from duty for the purpose of eating regular meals. The employee is not relieved if he or she is required to perform any duties, whether active or inactive, while eating.”