Workers at McDonald’s fast food outlets in New York, California and Michigan have filed seven lawsuits against the chain, charging that the company forced employees to work off the clock, failed to pay overtime and struck hours from their time cards. According to the lawyers representing the workers, McDonald’s, which raked in nearly $5.6 billion in profits last year, regularly fails to pay workers for all the hours they work.

Among the charges:

• New York workers said the company did not reimburse them for cleaning uniforms, thereby reducing salaries below the minimum wage.
• Michigan workers charged that the company forces workers to show up for work but then demands they wait with no pay until enough customers arrive.
• In California, workers claimed that McDonald’s and its franchise owners failed to pay them for all time worked, failed to pay proper overtime, altered pay records and deprived them of timely meal periods and rest breaks.

“We are tired of McDonald’s abusive behavior,” said Guadalupe Salazar, a McDonald’s worker in California who is one of the plaintiffs.

Since November 2012, fast-food workers have been campaigning for a $15 hourly wage and the right to form a union without retaliation.

CNNMoney, March 13