When dealing with the issue of time worked but not compensated, the absence of proper records kept by the employer can, at a very minimum, complicate a marginal case. Escobor v. Helping Hands Company, Inc., decided by the Suffolk Superior Court on April 19, 2016, is a case that illustrates this point. In that case the employee received an hourly travel expense of $2.00, a figure well below the hourly rate of $10.00 paid for time spent on site. In assessing the employee’s Wage Act claim, the court held that:
“The employer’s failure to keep records as alleged in Count V may, at the pleadings stage, make it plausible that it knows that keeping the legally required records would show a violation.”
The court denied the employer’s motion to dismiss. The fact that the plaintiff employee could not present evidence of or pinpoint a specific pay period in which she was underpaid, was not fatal to her claims given the total lack of records available in the case.