Worked Through Lunch Without Pay? How One Alabama Employee Recovered Missing Wages

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — A warehouse employee has recovered $18,400 in back pay after showing that her employer deducted a half-hour lunch break from her paycheck every day, even on the days she worked straight through.

The payroll system subtracted the break automatically. Her supervisors, she said, regularly asked her to stay at her station to cover shipping deadlines.

Thirty minutes a day added up to more than 300 unpaid hours over two years, much of it at overtime rates.

Calvessa Law Group compared her badge-swipe records and the warehouse's scanner logs with the payroll deductions. The records showed her scanning packages during the periods marked as breaks. The firm also gathered messages from supervisors asking her to keep working.

The employer agreed to pay $18,400 in back wages and damages and changed its system so breaks are deducted only when employees record them.

The settlement covered this employee only. Coworkers with similar schedules were not part of the case.

Automatic meal-break deductions are common and lawful when employees actually take the break. Disputes usually turn on records showing work during the deducted time.