Quick Hits
- In Commonwealth Department of Labor and Industry v. Accuserv Pharmacy, the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania reversed a trial court’s ruling in favor of twenty employees who sued for unpaid overtime wages.
- The appellate court found the trial court erred in determining that a six-year statute of limitations applied to the employees’ claims.
- The three-year statute of limitations had been commonly accepted by practitioners and judges throughout Pennsylvania.
In 2023, Pennsylvania’s Department of Labor and Industry sued two pharmacies, Accuserv Pharmacy and North Huntingdon Medical, to recover unpaid overtime for twenty employees for work performed between 2017 and 2019. The employees were pharmacy technicians and clerical workers who allegedly qualified for overtime pay. The employers argued that their claims were filed too late, assuming a statute of limitations of three years.
The Pennsylvania Minimum Wage Act (PMWA) contains a three-year record retention requirement, but not a statute of limitations. The Pennsylvania Wage Payment and Collection Law (WPCL) contains a three-year statute of limitations, but not a record retention mandate. Meanwhile, the state’s Judicial Code includes a catch-all six-year statute of limitations for all claims not covered by a different, more specific limitations period.
In June 2024, a Pittsburgh-area trial court reasoned that the six-year statute of limitations applied in this case because an explicit statute of limitations is not listed in the PMWA. The appellate court disagreed, finding that the PMWA and the WPCL “operate as a unified scheme and must be read harmoniously as one statute,” under the legal principle of in pari materia, meaning multiple laws on the same subject matter. The appellate court reversed the trial court’s order denying the employer’s motion for judgment on the pleadings.
In Pennsylvania, workers frequently sue for unpaid wages under the PMWA and the WPCL at the same time.
Next Steps
Employers can breathe a slight sigh of relief, knowing the appellate court’s decision confirms that employees claiming unpaid wages have only up to three years to file suit, not six years. This is especially important because the PMWA is often more employee-friendly than its federal counterpart, the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). For example, Pennsylvania does not follow the federal Portal-to-Portal Act. That means all time an employee is required to be on an employer’s site is generally compensable under Pennsylvania law (with a narrow exception for time on premises solely for the employee’s convenience).
Under the PMWA, employees may sue for unpaid wages and collect damages consisting of back wages, statutorily mandated attorneys’ fees, and pre-judgment interest. Similarly, employees filing lawsuits under the WPCL can collect similar damages plus liquidated damages equal to 25 percent of the total unpaid wages due or $500, whichever is greater. While employers are still at great risk for PMWA violations, a three-year statute of limitation provides employers with much less exposure than a six-year statute of limitations.
Ogletree Deakins’ Philadelphia and Pittsburgh offices and Wage and Hour Practice Group will continue to monitor developments and will post updates on the Class Action, Healthcare, Pennsylvania, and Wage and Hour blogs as additional information becomes available.
Lee E. Tankle is of counsel in Ogletree Deakins’ Philadelphia office.
This article was co-authored by Leah J. Shepherd, who is a writer in Ogletree Deakins’ Washington, D.C., office.
Follow and Subscribe
LinkedIn | Instagram | Webinars | Podcasts
