Nurses filed a class action lawsuit this week in circuit court against their employer, St. Louis-based BJC HealthCare, according to a news release from the plaintiffs' attorneys.
The plaintiffs claim 13-hospital BJC violated Missouri's wage and hour laws by failing to pay employees properly for all time worked. The timekeeping system allegedly rounds down the amount of time employees work to the nearest quarter-hour despite having to-the-minute records of when employees clock in and out.
The system also allegedly automatically deducts time for meal breaks from employees' pay, and the lawsuit claims BJC knew employees worked during those break times and made it a practice to not pay them for such compensable work, according to the report.
The plaintiffs also allege BJC failed to pay overtime to employees who worked more than 40 hours per week. The suit seeks unpaid overtime and straight-time wages, and it asks for a jury trial.
Current and former nurses and medical professionals employed by the system filed the suit.
In a St. Louis Post-Dispatch report, a BJC spokesperson said the system had no comment on the litigation.
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