A federal court in Arizona recently rejected a defense for Arizona employers seeking to avoid liability for unpaid wages under the Arizona Wage Act (AWA). In Arrison v. Walmart, 2023 WL 4421425 (D. Ariz. July 10, 2023), the district court held that there is no “employer knowledge” requirement under the AWA, rejecting Walmart’s attempt to defeat an unpaid wages class action against the company by arguing that it did not know or have reason to believe that its employees were working following a pre-shift COVID-19 screening.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Walmart began screening employees in its Arizona stores for COVID-19 symptoms. Before entering the store and beginning their shift, each employee needed to complete a screening consisting of a few “yes” or “no” questions and a temperature reading. To cover the time spent in the screening, Walmart paid each employee for an extra five minutes per shift and allowed employees to adjust their time if the screenings took longer than five minutes. Employees filed suit for unpaid wages under the AWA, alleging that they should have been paid for time spent after screening but before clocking in for their scheduled start times.
Walmart moved for summary judgment on multiple grounds, including the position that Walmart did not “know or have reason to believe” that plaintiffs were working post-screening, and under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), an employer does not need to pay for work unless it had a reason to know about it. In...
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