A former call center employee has launched a proposed class action accusing Volvo of requiring customer service representatives to work off the clock — alleging the company demanded workers be “phone ready” at the precise moment their shifts began without paying them for the time it took to prepare.

The Volvo Unpaid Worker suit, filed Monday in North Carolina federal court, claims Volvo Group North America LLC violated both the federal Fair Labor Standards Act and the North Carolina Wage Act by failing to compensate hourly employees for pre-shift and mid-shift preparatory tasks.

Booting Up Before the Clock Starts

Plaintiff Anna James, who worked for Volvo from June 2019 through May 2025, alleges that the company required customer service representatives to log in early and load necessary systems before their scheduled shifts — all without pay.

According to the complaint, being “phone ready” meant employees had to be fully logged in and have all required software, programs and applications open and operational so they could immediately answer customer inquiries the instant their shifts began.

“Defendant expected plaintiff and all other CSRs to respond to customer inquiries and handle calls for the entirety of their scheduled shifts,” the complaint states. Combined with strict attendance and adherence rules, that expectation allegedly forced workers to perform unpaid tasks off the clock.

James claims representatives routinely arrived 10 to 15 minutes early to boot up computer networks and applications described as “an integral and indispensable part” of their duties.

Meal Breaks Cut Short

The complaint further alleges that the unpaid work extended beyond the start of the day. Employees were required to return early from 30-minute meal breaks to repeat the same login process, ensuring they could resume taking live calls immediately when the break ended.

Failure to be “phone ready,” James says, exposed employees to potential discipline or termination under company policy.

When she raised concerns with a supervisor about the time spent preparing off the clock, James alleges she was told, “it is what it is.”

Alleged Overtime Violations

The lawsuit contends Volvo had the ability to track the preparatory tasks performed by James and other representatives but failed to do so — and failed to compensate them accordingly.

Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, employers must pay overtime to nonexempt employees who work more than 40 hours in a workweek. The complaint alleges Volvo knew or should have known that the additional pre- and mid-shift work pushed employees beyond those limits without proper pay.

“Despite knowing plaintiff and all other CSRs performed this pre- and mid-shift work, defendants and their managers failed to make any effort to stop or disallow it and instead suffered and permitted it to happen,” the complaint says.

James is seeking certification of the case as both a collective and class action. She also requests unpaid wages, damages and attorney fees for herself and the proposed class.

She is represented by attorneys Ethan C. Goemann, Kevin J. Stoops and Paulina R. Kennedy of Sommers Schwartz PC. Counsel information for Volvo was not immediately available, and representatives for both sides did not respond Tuesday to requests for comment.

At the heart of the Volvo Unpaid Worker suit lies a familiar question in the modern workplace: When does the workday truly begin — when the clock starts ticking, or when the computer powers on?