Labor Code section 514
Plaintiffs George Vranish, Jr., and Steve Teague are employees of defendant Exxon Mobil Corporation (Exxon). They are represented by a labor organization and their employment is governed by the terms of a collective bargaining agreement (CBA). At issue in this litigation is whether plaintiffs are owed monies for overtime hours worked. According to plaintiffs, the CBA does not provide for premium compensation for all "overtime hours worked" (§ 514), as the word "overtime" is defined by section 510. Thus, Exxon has not satisfied the requirements of section 514 and owes plaintiffs monies for overtime. According to Exxon, the CBA meets the requirements of section 514; because section 514 expressly provides that the daily overtime requirements of section 510 do not apply to employees covered by a valid collective bargaining agreement such as the one here, it owes plaintiffs nothing.
This appeal presents a legal question: Does Labor Code section 510's definition of "overtime" apply to employees covered by a valid collective bargaining agreement (§ 514)? Based upon the plain language of section 514,
Plaintiffs are Exxon employees. During their entire period of employment, plaintiffs have worked at Exxon's onshore facility near Gaviota, California (the Santa Ynez unit).
Plaintiffs are represented by a labor organization. Since at least 1989, the Exxon Employees Federation-Western Division, also known as Federation of Santa Ynez Unit Exxon Employees (the Federation) has been the exclusive bargaining representative for all production and maintenance employees at the Santa Ynez unit (the Covered Employees), including plaintiffs. Also since at least 1989, the CBA has been in effect between Exxon and the Federation pertaining to all Covered Employees, including plaintiffs.
Consistent with the CBA, plaintiffs each worked a regularly scheduled workweek that required them to work more than eight hours in a 24-hour period. In accordance with the CBA and schedule, plaintiffs were each regularly scheduled to work seven 12-hour shifts in a seven-day period and then have seven days off.
The Federation and Exxon also agreed, as part of the CBA, that the workweek would be Monday at 12:01 a.m. through Sunday at midnight. It was further agreed in the CBA that the scheduled seven 12-hour shifts worked by employees in plaintiffs' classification would begin at 6:00 a.m. on Thursday and end at 6:00 p.m. on the following Wednesday for day shift employees, and start at 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday and end at 6:00 a.m. on the following Thursday for night shift employees.
It is undisputed that plaintiffs were compensated for all overtime worked in accordance with the CBA. Specifically, plaintiffs were each paid at the overtime premium rate of one and one-half times their regular rate of pay for hours worked over 40 hours in a workweek or over 12 hours in a workday. The CBA provides that overtime is not paid for hours worked between eight and 12 in a workday.
Plaintiffs filed their initial class action complaint on November 23, 2010, and their first amended complaint on March 11, 2011. A second amended complaint, the operative pleading, was filed on September 22, 2011. It alleges three causes of action: failure to pay overtime wages in violation of section 510; violation of the California unfair practices law (Bus. & Prof. Code, § 17200); and violation of the Labor Code Private Attorneys General Act of 2004 (§ 2698 et seq.).
Exxon filed its motion for summary judgment on February 14, 2012. The motion was heard on May 3, 2012. Following supplemental briefing, further argument was heard on May 22, 2012, at which time the trial court granted Exxon's motion. The trial court reasoned: "Plaintiffs' contention is fundamentally flawed because it fails to acknowledge that they are completely exempt from section 510 by the collective bargaining exception contained in section 514, as well as under section 510[, subdivision] (a)(2). The plain language of sections 514 and 510[, subdivision] (a)(2), the legislative history, the relevant case law, a 1991 DLSE Opinion Letter, and the Statement As To The Basis for the amendments to the Wage Orders following the adoption of AB 60 confirm that section 514, as well as section 510[, subdivision] (a)(2), provide a complete exception to the overtime requirements of section 510[, subdivision] (a) upon which Plaintiffs' claims are based. Therefore, the undisputed material facts establish that Plaintiffs' claims for additional overtime compensation under Labor Code section 510 fails as a matter of law."
The trial court further found that section 514 applied because the requirements for coverage under that section had been met. And, the collective bargaining agreement exception under section 510, subdivision (a)(2), also applied because plaintiffs worked an alternative workweek schedule that was adopted pursuant to the CBA. Thus, even if section 514 did not entirely exempt plaintiffs from the overtime provisions of section 510, subdivision (a), their claim for daily overtime would have failed because they were exempted pursuant to section 510, subdivision (a)(2).
Judgment for Exxon was entered, and plaintiffs' timely appeal ensued.
As the parties agree, we review the trial court's order de novo. (Guz v. Bechtel National, Inc. (2000) 24 Cal.4th 317, 334 [100 Cal.Rptr.2d 352, 8 P.3d 1089]; Schachter v. Citigroup, Inc. (2009) 47 Cal.4th 610, 619 [101 Cal.Rptr.3d 2,
Section 510, subdivision (a), provides, in relevant part: "Eight hours of labor constitutes a day's work." The statute continues to set forth the payment of overtime compensation. (§ 510, subd. (a).)
Section 514, covering exempt employees, provides, in relevant part: "Section[] 510 ... do[es] not apply to an employee covered by a valid collective bargaining agreement if the agreement expressly provides for the wages, hours of work, and working conditions of the employees, and if the agreement provides premium wage rates for all overtime hours worked and a regular hourly rate of pay for those employees of not less than 30 percent more than the state minimum wage."
Plaintiffs do not dispute that the CBA is a valid collective bargaining agreement; that the CBA provides for wages, hours of work, and working conditions for Covered Employees, including plaintiffs; and that the CBA provides for a regular hourly rate of pay for Covered Employees, including plaintiffs, which is not less than 30 percent more than the State of California minimum wage requirement. Plaintiffs also do not dispute that the CBA provides premium wage rates for all overtime hours worked as designated in the CBA. At issue in this appeal is whether the phrase "all overtime hours worked" in section 514 means "overtime" as defined in section 510, subdivision (a); said otherwise, was Exxon required to pay plaintiffs overtime, as that word is defined in section 510, subdivision (a), or was it only required to pay a premium for overtime work as that word is defined in the CBA?
"`It is elementary that, if possible, statutes will be so construed as to avoid absurd applications and to uphold their validity. [Citation.] A statute "will not be given an interpretation in conflict with its clear purpose ...." [Citations.]'" (People v. Bratis (1977) 73 Cal.App.3d 751, 757-758 [141 Cal.Rptr. 45].) Otherwise stated: "`We must select the construction that comports most closely with the apparent intent of the Legislature, with a view to promoting rather than defeating the general purpose of the statute, and avoid an interpretation that would lead to absurd consequences.' [Citation.]" (People v. Coronado (1995) 12 Cal.4th 145, 151 [48 Cal.Rptr.2d 77, 906 P.2d 1232].)
With these principles in mind, we conclude that the CBA satisfies the fourth requirement of section 514, namely that it provides "premium wage rates for all overtime hours worked." As set forth above, the CBA provides for premium wages.
Even if section 514 were ambiguous, legislative history supports our conclusion. "[B]oth the language of Senate Bill No. 1208 (2001-2002 Reg. Sess.) and its legislative history confirm that it had never been the Legislature's intent to exclude union-represented employees from any of the protections of the 1999 Restoration Act other than the overtime and alternative workweek provisions of sections 510 and 511." (Lazarin v. Superior Court (2010) 188 Cal.App.4th 1560, 1575-1576 [116 Cal.Rptr.3d 596], italics added; see Valles v. Ivy Hill Corp. (9th Cir. 2005) 410 F.3d 1071, 1079 [citing legislative history and noting that § 514 was "intended to exempt workers covered by a collective bargaining agreement from `specified code sections relating to compensation for overtime work and authorizing the adoption of
In urging us to reverse, plaintiffs argue that the CBA does not satisfy the requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA; 29 U.S.C. § 201 et seq.), which cannot be waived, even through collective bargaining. The CBA meets FLSA requirements. Under the FLSA, the term "workweek" is defined as "a fixed and regularly recurring period of 168 hours — seven consecutive 24-hour periods. It need not coincide with the calendar week but may begin on any day and at any hour of the day." (29 C.F.R. § 778.105 (2013).) Exxon's workweek meets this standard — the schedule of seven consecutive shifts worked by plaintiffs overlaps two workweeks, resulting in 48 hours being worked in one workweek and 36 hours being worked in the other workweek.
Alternatively, Exxon was entitled to summary judgment because plaintiffs worked pursuant to an alternative workweek schedule adopted as part of the CBA.
Here, it is undisputed that plaintiffs worked a regularly scheduled workweek that required them to work more than eight hours in a 24-hour period. It is also undisputed that the alternative workweek schedule they worked was adopted pursuant to, and was part of, the CBA. Accordingly, plaintiffs worked an alternative workweek schedule as defined by section 500, subdivision (c), which was adopted pursuant to the CBA, thereby meeting the requirements of section 510, subdivision (a)(2). (Wylie v. Foss Maritime Co., supra, 2008 U.S.Dist. Lexis 76607, at pp. *49-*50; Cathcart v. Sara Lee Corp. (N.D.Cal., Nov. 30, 2011, No. C-09-5748 MMC) 2011 U.S.Dist. Lexis 137352, at pp. *14-*15 [if the parties to a collective bargaining agreement agree to an alternative workweek schedule, the collective bargaining agreement, rather than § 510, defines what work constitutes overtime hours for purposes of § 514].)
Relying upon this principle, plaintiffs argue that we must reverse the trial court order and judgment because Exxon deliberately and artificially manipulated plaintiffs' workweek and work schedules for the primary purpose of
The trial court's judgment is affirmed. Exxon is entitled to costs on appeal.
Boren, P. J., and Ferns, J.,
At oral argument, plaintiffs relied heavily upon Gregory v. SCIE (9th Cir. 2003) 317 F.3d 1050. Aside from the fact that this case was not cited in plaintiffs' opening appellate brief, the case is of no assistance. The issue in Gregory was federal preemption. (Id. at pp. 1051, 1053.)