Customer call centers have become the primarily means of communication between companies and their clients. They have become even more important since the recent recession when brands put greater focus on customer service to differentiate themselves from competitors.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates there were more than 2 million people in the United States who were employed as call center representatives in 2010, serving a diverse array of industries. As valuable as these people are to brands' reputations, they are often low-wage workers who are vulnerable to labor rights violations.

The Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division reports that some of the common issues in the field include employers who do not pay representatives for all of their time and attendance, keep records of time on the clock or issue overtime wages.

It was recently suggested that this may be the case for employees at Cellco, a firm that does business as Verizon Wireless. Call center reps allege they did not receive compensation for work they performed before the official start time of shifts and after they were supposed to end. The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) holds companies responsible for all the time employees are allowed to work, even if that is a few minutes outside of employees' scheduled time and attendance.

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