How Voice AI and Machine Learning Redefine Call Center Controls - The Consumer Finance Podcast
Episode 23: Using “People Analytics” to Make Smart Business and Corporate Culture Decisions
It seems every week another call center case pops up. These are extremely dangerous cases for employers and that is why I keep writing (or, harping) about them, as a warning to employers, not only those who operate call...more
One of the biggest threats facing employers is employees performing pre-shift/post-shift work without being paid and then suing, as a class, for that compensation. This trend is especially prevalent in the customer...more
Over the last ten years or so, there have been a rash of class actions involving workers employed at various call centers. These cases involve the performance of work prior to the shift and after, so-called preliminary and...more
It seems every other week there is a call center case involving preliminary and postliminary working time. Now, it is a Wayfair call center. The customer service workers allege that the booting up of their computers and...more
As it turns out, yes, people do care about time. Two recent court cases highlight some of the risks for employers when pay and timekeeping practices don’t comport with wage and hour laws. We’ll provide overviews of each case...more
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals recently held that time spent booting up computers for call center employees at the beginning of their shift is integral and indispensable to their work and thus compensable under federal...more
The issue of working time, especially the issue of preliminary and postliminary activities and what activities are compensable, haunts me as a practitioner and is confusing for employers....more
Earlier this week, the Ninth Circuit held that computer start-up time is compensable under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) where computer usage is an “integral and indispensable” part of an employee’s duties. More...more
California’s Legislature recently ended another busy session, sending a slew of new employee-friendly bills to Governor Gavin Newsom, who was not stingy with his pen....more
Although the unpaid time employees spent booting up their computers was relatively small, it was compensable and the employer failed to establish the practical administrative difficulty of estimating the time at issue, which...more
I have written about call center cases, which involve allegedly unpaid working time, many times. Well, they continue to pop up. In a recent case, a class of workers claim that they were expected/required to handle customer...more
Several employment-related laws become effective October 1, 2021. As that date is upon us, employers may want to review and ensure consistency with these laws by making any applicable changes to their practices, policies, and...more
At its February 18, 2021 meeting, the General Assembly’s Labor and Public Employees Committee began the process of approving bills. The following is a brief summary of the bills that the Committee voted favorably on and...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: A Massachusetts trial court judge ruled that employees were entitled to premium pay for work on Sundays at a call center, under a Massachusetts statute governing Sunday and holiday work at a retail “store...more
Don’t let hindsight be 2020. While others are enjoying the holidays and a well-deserved break, Nevada businesses should “check their lists twice” to make sure they are compliant with a host of new laws going into effect in...more
Judge Sanders issued an interesting summary-judgment decision in Bassett v. Triton Technologies. She teed up the issue this way...more
Late last year, more than 1,300 "advice nurses" working at call-in centers providing answers to patient health care questions for Kaiser Permanente and Permanente Medical Group filed a class action lawsuit for unpaid wages...more