AT&T sued for deliberate employee misclassification

A class-action lawsuit was recently filed against AT&T on behalf of at-home virtual call center employees in the Northern District of California. The suit alleges that the company misclassified the workers as independent contractors in order to avoid having to pay state and federal taxes.

Furthermore, the telecommunication services provider is accused of deliberately trying to avoid the time and attendance requirements laid out in the state's employment legislation, which exempts independent contractors from rules pertaining to lunch and break times, minimum wage and overtime payment.

California's time and attendance laws are notoriously complicated. According to the state's Department of Industrial Relations website, employees who work between eight and 12 hours in any workday are required to be paid time-and-a-half for those hours, and those who work in excess of 12 hours must be paid double their regular hourly salary according to state law. On the seventh consecutive day of work in a work week, any hours in excess of eight must also be compensated with double time.