Many hard-working people go to work every day expecting to be paid a fair wage for the work that they do. Workers in Florida expect to be paid at least minimum wage and be compensated accordingly for any overtime hours that they work. When workers do the work but do not get paid, they may decide to file claims to get the unpaid overtime and income they believe that they are missing.
A class action lawsuit was filed by seven janitors who worked at Cinemark theatres since May 8, 2012, alleging that they were not paid overtime and did not get minimum wage. They believe that they were improperly classified as independent contractors in an effort to lower payroll costs. People hired as independent contractors do not receive the same benefits as employees and do not qualify for such things as unemployment insurance and workers' compensation, which means that they most likely have higher taxes.
According to two of the plaintiffs, they claim that, combined, they usually worked 138.75 hours per week. Because they are paid a flat rate, they calculated their pay to be $5.55 per hour without any compensation for overtime. The average rate for all of the plaintiffs in this case is between $3.57 and $5.55 per hour, which is well below the minimum wage for the state in which they work.
The complaint is accusing Cinemark and the cleaning company, Simply Right Inc., for not paying the workers overtime and minimum wage. According to Simply Right's CIO, the complaint is only happening because of the hype around the movie theater because of the 2012 shooting, and he believes that the case will quickly be dismissed. Florida workers who believe that they are not being paid correctly have the right to pursue legal recourse to reclaim the unpaid overtime and wages that they believed to be owed.
Source: bizjournals.com, "Colorado janitors sue Cinemark alleging violation of labor laws", Monica Mendoza, May 12, 2015