A US federal appeals court has ruled in favour of PwC in an overtime pay class action brought forward by 2,000 of the firm’s junior unlicensed accountants.
The Ninth US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that unlicensed accountants at PwC are not automatically covered by the California overtime law.
In the class action the 2,000 junior accountants claimed that PwC failed to pay them mandatory overtime under California law.
In earlier proceedings a lower court ruled that PwC could not exempt unlicensed accountants from the state’s overtime requirements, however the Ninth US Circuit Court of Appeals did not agree last week.
A PwC spokesperson told US media that the firm is “pleased that the Ninth Circuit supported its arguments in this important case.”
As the result of this the class action has now been sent back to the lower district court in Sacramento for further proceedings.