Wage and Hour Division (WHD)
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U.S. Department of Labor |
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Trucking company pays workers more than $50,000 in back wages following US Labor Department investigation
JACKSONVILLE, Florida -- The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered $50,258 in overtime back wages for eight yard tractor operators of RDL Logistics LLC, after an investigation by the department’s Wage and Hour Division determined that they had been incorrectly classified as exempt from the Fair Labor Standards Act and consequently denied compensation for all hours worked. The company transports paper from Fernandia Beach, Fla., to cities within all 48 continental states.
“There is no excuse for denying workers their hard-earned wages. Employers need to ensure that employees are properly classified and compensated for all of the hours they work. RDL Logistics failed to do this and, as a result, eight employees did not receive the overtime compensation they earned,” said Michael Young, director of the Wage and Hour Division’s Jacksonville District Office.
The investigation found that the employees, who moved trucks and trailers on company property and did not transport goods on public roads, were made to perform physical labor for more than 40 hours a week, including Saturdays and Sundays, without receiving any overtime compensation for that work.
The FLSA requires that covered employees be paid at least the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour as well as one and one-half times their regular rates of pay for hours worked over 40 per week. In general, “hours worked” includes all time a covered employee must be on duty, or on the employer’s premises or any other prescribed place of work, from the beginning principal work activity of the day to the end of the last principal work activity. Additionally, the law requires that accurate records of employees’ wages, hours and other conditions of employment be maintained.
The law does contain an overtime exemption for some workers employed in transporting goods on public roads, including those who work as drivers, driver’s helpers, loaders or mechanics, whose duties affect the safety of motor vehicles in transportation on public highways engaged in interstate or foreign commerce. This exception does not apply to employees not engaged in “safety affecting activities,” such as dispatchers, office personnel, and loaders and unloaders of vehicles who are not responsible for the proper loading of those vehicles.
For more information on this investigation, contact the Wage and Hour Division’s Jacksonville office at 904-359-9292 or call the division’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Information is also available at http://www.dol.gov/whd.
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