Labor & Employment Law Daily Wrap Up, WAGE-HOUR—E.D.N.Y.: Healthcare employer that rounded clock punch times cannot dismiss unpaid overtime claims, (Apr 29, 2025)

By Todd Harrison, J.D.

It also incorporated 30-minute unpaid meal breaks into employees’ shift times, although employees allegedly had to perform some work tasks during these breaks.

Denying a motion to dismiss the FLSA and NYLL unpaid overtime claims brought by a nursing aide trainee against her nursing home and care provider employer, a federal district court in New York determined that it was enough for the employee to show that she went uncompensated when she clocked in before the start of her shift or after the end of her shift, that her uncompensated meal break was regularly interrupted, and that she was never paid overtime for this work. The court did, however, dismiss her FLSA minimum wage claim, explaining that the violation of a state minimum wage higher than the federal minimum wage does not, on its own, support a FLSA minimum wage claim (Bell v. ArchCare Community Services, Inc. dba ArchCare, No. 24-cv-01877 (NCM) (CLP) (E.D.N.Y. Apr. 28, 2025)).

The plaintiff in this case was employed as a nurse aide trainee by the employer from about December 2021 to May 2022. The employer operates nursing homes and provides nursing care services throughout the state of New York.

Timekeeping system. Under the employer’s timekeeping system, when an employee clocks in or out for a shift, that time is rounded to the nearest 15-minute increment. In addition, the system automatically deducts 30 minutes per shift from each employee’s pay for a meal break, in lieu of having employees clock out for their meal breaks.

Work schedule. Throughout her employment, the employee worked a shift that was scheduled from 6:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. As part of her complaint, she supplied the exact time she clocked in and out for her shifts during the pay period from March 5 to March 19, 2022.

The employee clocked in before the start of her scheduled shift and/or after the end of her scheduled shift every day during the two-week period but was only compensated according to her scheduled hours. She alleged that she “worked at least 1 hour and 17 minutes on the clock for which she was not paid.” During this same stretch, she also alleged that her “uncompensated meal break was interrupted by approximately 5-10 minutes each day,” by requests from her supervisors to work. In total, she was credited with working 75 hours during that pay period, inclusive of 10 automatically deducted 30-minute meal periods.

Lawsuit. On March 13, 2024, the employee filed this putative collective action on behalf of herself and similarly situated employees. She asserted claims for overtime and minimum wage violations pursuant to the FLSA, and claims for unpaid overtime and nonpayment of straight wages under NYLL. The employer moved to dismiss all claims.

Scheduled for 40 hours? According to the employer, the employee’s allegations failed to support an overtime wage claim because they lacked the requisite “specificity.” Namely, it asserted that the employee never alleged that she was scheduled to work 40 hours per week given that her weekly schedule, when accounting for the 30-minute unpaid lunch break, totaled 37.5 hours per week. The employer further contended that even if the employee worked for 10 minutes of her lunch break each shift, this would only amount to an extra 50 minutes of work each week, bringing the total to 38 hours and 20 minutes, still below the 40 hour mark. Finally, the employer argued that even if the employee worked every single minute of her lunch break, she would still not exceed 40 hours worked. The court found that each of these arguments lacked merit.

Meal breaks. First, explained the court, a meal break counts toward the 40-hour weekly total unless an employee enjoys a bona fide meal period during which they are completely relieved from duty. The allegations that the employee was interrupted for five to ten minutes during her break was sufficient to support an inference that she was required to be available during her lunch break and was thus not completely relieved of her duty. Thus, her regular weekly work schedule constituted 40 hours of compensable work.

Clocking in/out. Turning to the employer’s argument that even if the employee worked every minute of her meal break she could still not exceed 40 hours worked in a week, the court noted that the employee alleged that she was only compensated from 6:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.—irrespective of whether she clocked in early or out late. As such, she plausibly alleged that she worked more than 40 hours without receiving the requisite compensation.

Although the employer was correct in noting that not all time spent on work related tasks before or after a shift is compensable, the employee had sufficiently alleged that the tasks she performed were part of her core job duties and were therefore compensable. Accordingly, the motion to dismiss the FLSA unpaid overtime claim was denied.

Minimum wage. Next, the court addressed the employee’s FLSA minimum wage claim. Notably, the complaint did not appear to bring a minimum wage claim under the NYLL. On paper, the employee’s wage was set at $15 per hour—New York’s state minimum wage at the time. However, because the parties disputed how many hours the employee actually worked, they also disputed her exact hourly wage.

For purposes of this case, the employer argued that even if the employee was uncompensated due to alleged mealtime interruptions totaling two-and-a-half hours per week, her average hourly wage for a 40-hour week would fall to $14.06—still well above the federal minimum wage—and thus this claim should be dismissed.

This claim, explained the court, turned on which minimum wage applies for purposes of determining liability under the FLSA: the federal minimum wage or the state minimum wage. The court found that while the FLSA does not prevent an employee from recovering wages due under state minimum wage laws—and does not excuse noncompliance with such laws—the violation of a state minimum wage higher than the federal minimum wage does not, on its own, support a FLSA minimum wage claim.

Because the employee had failed to allege facts indicating her average hourly wage was less than the federal minimum wage, she failed to state a plausible FLSA claim for minimum wage violations. As such, this claim was dismissed.

NYLL claims. Finally, the court considered the employee’s NYLL claims for nonpayment of straight wages and unpaid overtime under the NYLL. The employer’s sole basis for dismissal was that the court should decline to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over these claims because the employee’s “federal claims arising under the FLSA are lacking.” However, the court noted that the employee had plausibly alleged a claim for unpaid overtime pursuant to the FLSA, and the court could therefore exercise supplemental jurisdiction over the state-law claims. Accordingly, the motion to dismiss these claims was denied.

The case is No. 24-cv-01877 (NCM) (CLP).

Judge: Merle, N.

Attorneys: Jason Scott Giaimo (McLaughlin & Stern) for Constance Bell. Michael P. Collins (Bond Schoeneck & King) for ArchCare Community Services, Inc.

Companies: ArchCare Community Services, Inc.

Cases: WageHour MinimumWage Overtime WorkingTime Procedure StateLawClaims NewYorkNews