Judge approves Michigan Walmart employees’ settlement

STATEWIDE — More than 3 million Walmart hourly employees who worked in 30 states including Michigan had their request for final approval of an $85 million dollar settlement approved by United States District Court Judge Phillip Pro Monday.

The settlement class is the largest for wage and hour cases in United States history. Robert Bonsignore, the employees national lead counsel said in a press release “Today is a good day for all Walmart employees.”

The last day for past or current Walmart employees to submit a request for a cash payment is Nov. 9. All former and current employees are urged to submit a claim. Claim forms are available by calling 1-800-677 5163 or by visiting the claim website at www.walmartmdl.com.

Court documents say that not only will employees be compensated, but Walmart also has agreed to implement and use various technological advances to better ensure compliance with all policies and laws related to compensating for time worked and employees’ right to uninterrupted break times.

Michigan employees have the option of submitting either a short claim form, which provides for an automatic, fixed payment based on the length of their employment, or a long claim form, which provides for a payment amount based on their length of employment and their answers to questions regarding their personal work experiences.

Those who use the short form will receive a standard amount estimated to range between $25 and $150 based upon their length of service. Employees electing to use the long form may instead recover an estimated amount between $50 and $300, depending on their length of service and number of incidents claimed. Depending on the number of claims made the amount of the payment may vary and could go up to $1,000.