Jimmy John’s Employees File Lawsuit Re: Working Off The Clock

Those of you who know me know that there are a handful of brands I love so much that I shill them perpetually on my favorite social media channels: Fireball whiskey, the Gorilla Workout, Amtrak, and of course Jimmy John’s, home of the best sandwich in the entire world, the Number 6 With Pep.

I order Jimmy John’s more than I care to admit; at $8 for the sandwich and the freaky fast delivery, it’s an extremely justifiable expense, plus there’s a long stupid Proustian thing about how the sandwiches remind me of adult independence and happiness that I just don’t want to get into right now. (To make a long story short: some of my most formative moments occurred in the company of a Jimmy John’s sandwich, and I’m going to do everything I can to make sure that keeps happening.)

Which is why I regret to inform you that two Jimmy John’s employees have filed a lawsuit against Jimmy John’s, to wit:

Defendants’ nationwide policies, pattern and/or practices which require or have the practical effect of requiring hourly employees to work “off the clock” without getting paid for that time and overtime, and for failing to pay hourly employees minimum wages as a result of this off the clock work and for failing to pay them all wages due and owing in a timely manner, has caused Plaintiffs, the Collective, and the Class, significant monetary losses and is in direct violation of the federal and state wage laws under which Plaintiffs bring this action.

And yes, this news has spread over the internet freaky fast. (I first saw it on Jezebel, but it’s everywhere.)

It’s reminding me of another formative memory; a retail job I had after college (not the telemarketing one) where I was also asked to clock out and continue working. The party line was that we got paid for 40 hours of work but sometimes the work took more than 40 hours. (And, if I remember correctly, it was important that the company not know when we took too long at our work and had to work over 40 hours? It’s been almost a decade since that job.) I only worked at that company for three weeks, and the nonsense about clocking in and clocking out was one of the reasons why. I couldn’t believe it was a thing that was allowed to happen; proof, of course, that I had a lot to learn about the working world.

I hope the Jimmy John’s thing gets resolved in a way where the employees get paid for their work and I get to keep buying Jimmy John’s sandwiches. In the meanwhile, I will continue to tip my delivery cyclist more than 20%, or whatever the percentage is when your bill is $8 and you hand him a $10.

Photo: Michael Hicks

Support The Billfold

The Billfold continues to exist thanks to support from our readers. Help us continue to do our work by making a monthly pledge on Patreon or a one-time-only contribution through PayPal.