In Creely v. HCR ManorCare, Inc., 2013 WL 377282 (N.D. Ohio Jan. 31, 2013), the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio decertified a collective action filed pursuant to the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) holding that plaintiffs failed to present substantial evidence that they were similarly situated with respect to defendant’s electronic auto-deduct timekeeping policy.
In Creely, a group of 318 registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, certified nursing assistants, and admissions coordinators opted into a collective action against their employer HCR ManorCare (“HCR”), a nationwide provider of short and long-term rehabilitation facilities, alleging that they were denied overtime wages in violation of the FLSA. Defendant implemented an electronic timekeeping system that automatically deducted a thirty minute break period from timecards of hourly employees who worked a set amount of hours per day. Defendant’s policy indicated that any employee who was unable to take the pre-determined break period was required to fill out and submit a “missed punch form” to their manager who would coordinate with payroll to adjust the employee’s time card accordingly.
Plaintiffs argued that employees who missed or worked through the pre-determined break period were not paid because defendant illegally shifted the burden of monitoring “compensable work time” to its employees and failed to properly train employees on how to report missed time. Moreover, plaintiffs contended that managers at some of defendant’s facilities actively discouraged employees from reporting missed meal breaks.
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