Nurses regularly came in 20-30 minutes early to receive patient assignments, review charts, and otherwise prepare for the day before they clocked in and are not paid for the time, according to the complaint filed Monday in Sacramento County Superior Court.

“There’s an expectation that when they start the shift, they should already know who their patients are, what their needs are going to be for the day, and have a plan in place for the next 12 hours,” said Bryan Lazarski of Lazarski Law Practice, who represents the nurses. 

The proposed class includes roughly 1,200 nurses who have worked at seven Sacramento-area hospitals over the past four years, Lazarski said.