Post by pavel on May 12, 2016 22:33:02 GMT -6
LITTLE ROCK — The Gerber Products plant in Fort Smith should not have to pay employees for time spent donning and doffing uniforms because such payment is not part of an agreement negotiated between the company and the employees’ union, an attorney for Gerber argued Thursday before the Arkansas Supreme Court.
An attorney for a group of employees who filed a class-action lawsuit against the company argued that the employees should be paid for the time spent on the activities because the state Minimum Wage Act prohibits workers from being required to perform tasks for less than minimum wages.
The Supreme Court heard oral arguments but did not immediately issue a ruling in Gerber’s appeal of a Sebastian County circuit judge’s 2014 ruling that it must pay its employees for time spent donning and doffing uniforms, which under Gerber’s rules must occur at the plant and must include applying lint rollers to the uniforms to remove any foreign objects.
The process consumes about four hours a week for each employee, according to the suit.
Emmett Chiles, an attorney for Gerber, told the court the state Minimum Wage Act provides that “nothing in the act shall be deemed to diminish in any way the right to collective bargaining.”
Read more: pbcommercial.com/news/state/court-hears-arguments-suit-over-gerber-pay-policy
An attorney for a group of employees who filed a class-action lawsuit against the company argued that the employees should be paid for the time spent on the activities because the state Minimum Wage Act prohibits workers from being required to perform tasks for less than minimum wages.
The Supreme Court heard oral arguments but did not immediately issue a ruling in Gerber’s appeal of a Sebastian County circuit judge’s 2014 ruling that it must pay its employees for time spent donning and doffing uniforms, which under Gerber’s rules must occur at the plant and must include applying lint rollers to the uniforms to remove any foreign objects.
The process consumes about four hours a week for each employee, according to the suit.
Emmett Chiles, an attorney for Gerber, told the court the state Minimum Wage Act provides that “nothing in the act shall be deemed to diminish in any way the right to collective bargaining.”
Read more: pbcommercial.com/news/state/court-hears-arguments-suit-over-gerber-pay-policy