Wal-Mart Ordered to Comply With Workplace Law
A California judge ordered Wal-Mart Stores Inc. on Monday to obey state laws requiring rest breaks for hourly workers and told the retailer to provide reports on its compliance for the next three years.
Alameda County Superior Court Judge Ronald Sabraw in Oakland issued a tentative ruling that, since 1998, Wal-Mart wasn’t in compliance with rest break laws, pressured workers to waive meal breaks in a manner he said was coercive and stopped tracking its compliance with break rules, though senior executives knew there were “widespread meal and rest break problems.”
Wal-Mart spokesman John Simley had no immediate comment.
“We’re very pleased with the court’s findings,” said Jessica Grant, attorney for the workers.
The workers asked Sabraw for the order after a California jury decided in December that Wal-Mart must pay workers $172.3 million for illegally preventing them from taking breaks. Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer, faces 40 similar suits around the country.
Under California law, employees who work more than five hours must get a 30-minute break. Workers who don’t get the break receive an extra hour’s worth of pay.
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