Albertsons truckers sue grocer for labor law violations in California

Albertsons is facing a lawsuit filed by a group of transportation workers accusing the Boise, Idaho-based grocer of not properly reimbursing business expenses and of a failure to pay overtime hours worked, among other allegations.

Many of the allegations center around the workers not getting compensated for being sick, working overtime, and for business-related expenses like cell-phone use, according to court documents filed in the California Superior Court for Los Angeles County. 

Albertsons also installed a camera-monitoring system, called DriveCam, in trucks and at distribution centers and allegedly told workers the cameras would only record when the driver activated the system or when there was a trigger event. But workers are accusing the grocer of always keeping the cameras on, including during private phone conversations with family members.

Workers claim they should have been paid when they were waiting in line to undergo security checks before and after their shifts, and say they were not reimbursed for time spent taking COVID-19 tests. To get a shift, drivers must bid on assignments, and the group claims they had to be off the clock during the process.

Albertsons is also accused of not offering meal and rest breaks. California law states an employee is entitled to one 10-minute rest period if they work at least 3.5 hours, two 10-minute rest periods if they work more than six hours, and three 10-minute rests if they are on the clock for more than 10 hours. 

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In addition, employees are entitled to one 30-minute meal period if they work at least five hours and two 30-minute meal breaks if they work at least 10 hours. The workers said business needs took precedent, which consistently interfered with breaks. 

The group alleges they were threatened with disciplinary action, including possible termination, if they did not prioritize business over breaks. The group also says that Albertsons’ failure to record all breaks and failure to pay applicable premiums resulted in payroll records such as wage statements that were not accurate or legally compliant.

The lawsuit states that the group wants to be compensated for breaks that were missed, in addition to Albertsons covering their legal fees for the suit.

Albertsons had not responded to a request for comment at time of publication.