Big hospital chain goes back to court

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Washington’s largest hospital chain might be three judges away from answering the pricey question of what counts as working hard or hardly working. 

Providence got another day in court on Tuesday in its bid to bury a 2024 decision which found the hospital giant stiffed some 33,000 of its employees north of $200 million between its timekeeping practices and a dearth of meal breaks.

Here’s how it works. Say a staffer clocks in early at 6:53 a.m. for a 7 a.m. shift. The timekeeping system would report their start time as 7 a.m. and pay out accordingly.¹ Once they clock out, it could round them back to the nearest 15-minute increment–or not. King County Superior Court Judge Averil Rothrock ruled the so-called rounding system “systemically favors Providence” and thereby underpaying its employees. 

Photo by Luis Melendez on Unsplash