Kroger employees allege company payroll system robbing them

Simpson and Dalton are members of the union, which represents approximately 13,000 Kroger workers in the Mid-Atlantic region of Virginia, West Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee.

According to Local 400 President Mark Federici, the union has received more than 1,000 online reports from members, addressing problems ranging from missed and incomplete paychecks to improperly deducted taxes and health care premiums.

The union has filed class-action grievances against the company for violations of its collective bargaining agreement. In December, the union filed Unfair Labor Practice charges against Kroger through the National Labor Relations Board.

“This is wage theft, plain and simple,” Federici said in the release. “When you work for an employer, you should be compensated completely and correctly for every minute you work, and if you aren’t, then your employer is stealing from you. We have received more than 1,000 reports from Kroger employees experiencing payroll problems, and we know for every report we receive there are many, many others that go unreported. Despite using every available avenue to bring these problems to Kroger’s attention, the company has refused to correct its payroll system. This is simply unacceptable.”

Simpson worked for Kroger in Charleston for four weeks — from August to September 2022 — and never received any pay, the lawsuit alleges. She resigned.

Dalton works for Kroger in St. Albans. For almost two months, she alleges, her spousal insurance was deducted twice from each paycheck. Kroger has been made aware of these issues but has failed to correct them, she says.

“As our case will show, Kroger has engaged in a persistent pattern of wage theft through its failure to correct ongoing and systemic payroll problems resulting from its new ‘MyTime’ software,” said Matthew Handley, whose firm, Handley Farah & Anderson PLLC, filed the suit. “The company’s failure to correct these problems is in clear violation of federal and state law, and we intend to seek every remedy available on behalf of these workers.”

A Kroger spokesperson did not return phone calls for comment.