Ward v. Tilly’s, Inc., 31 Cal. App. 5th 1167 (2019)
Skylar Ward challenged by way of this putative class action the on-call scheduling practices of her former employer, Tilly’s, Inc., as violating the reporting time pay requirements of California law. Tilly’s required on-call employees to contact Tilly’s two hours before their on-call shifts. If they are told to come in, they are paid for the shifts they work; if they are not told to come in, they receive no compensation for having been “on call.” Ward alleged that when the employees contacted Tilly’s two hours before their on-call shifts, they were “reporting for work”; Tilly’s asserted that employees “report for work” only by physically appearing at the work site at the start of a scheduled shift. The trial court sustained Tilly’s’ demurrer and dismissed the action. The Court of Appeal reversed, holding that “the call-in requirement is inconsistent with being off-duty, and thus triggers the reporting time pay requirement.”