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Walgreen Co.
ABBEY SPANIER INVESTIGATES WALGREENS FOR UNFAIR EMPLOYMENT PRACTICES Abbey Spanier is currently investigating Walgreen Co. d/b/a Walgreens ("Walgreens") for misclassification of its Executive Assistant Managers as "exempt" from the overtime requirements of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act ("FLSA") and state wage and hour laws. At Walgreens, Executive Assistant Managers are low-level managers who report to at least two levels of higher management – store managers and district managers. Abbey Spanier is investigating whether these employees are acting in a true managerial or executive capacity so as to qualify for the overtime exemption under state and federal labor laws. The key issues are whether these employees have the authority to hire, fire and/or to assign tasks to employees and whether they spend significantly more than 50 percent of their time during each work shift performing non-exempt tasks identical to those of non-salaried, non-exempt Assistant Managers. Upon information and belief, non-exempt tasks performed by Executive Assistant Managers include, but are not limited to, making sure certain areas of Walgreens stores are properly stocked, unloading delivery trucks, stock room maintenance and minimal supervision of other employees. Although these employees are salaried, they do not earn enough compensation per week to qualify for the exemption under the salary test. If Abbey Spanier's investigation reveals that Executive Assistant Managers do not qualify for an "exempt" classification, these employees may be entitled to unpaid overtime, liquidated damages and other benefits under the FLSA and state wage and hour laws. For covered, non-exempt employees, the FLSA requires overtime pay at a rate of not less than one and one-half times the employee's regular rate of pay for each hour worked in excess of 40 hours in a given workweek. An employee's workweek is a fixed and regularly recurring period of 168 hours – seven consecutive 24-hour periods. A workweek does not need to coincide with the calendar week; it may begin on any day and at any hour of the day. Some states also have enacted overtime laws. Where an employee is subject to both the state and federal overtime laws, the employee is entitled to overtime according to the higher standard (i.e., the standard that will provide the higher rate of pay). Abbey Spanier has been representing employees in class actions and collective actions in federal and state courts throughout the United States for over a decade. Please visit our unfair employment practices page for more information about the firm's recent recoveries and achievements in this field. If you are a current or former employee of Walgreens and would like to discuss our investigation, please tell us your story. Stephanie Amin-Giwner Nancy Kaboolian |