In case you like to buy at Elements Authority, possibly think about discovering one other place to spend your cash. The Division of Labor not too long ago introduced that it has obtained a judgment ordering Elements Authority Arizona and Arizona Logistics (working collectively as Diligent Supply Methods) to pay again wages and damages after they misclassified 1,398 drivers as unbiased contractors.
Along with $2.8 million in again pay, the court docket order additionally requires the businesses to pay a further $2.8 million in damages to the workers who have been wrongly handled as contractors. Moreover, Larry Browne, proprietor of Elements Authority and Diligent Supply Methods, was ordered to pay a $150,000 positive. Going ahead, Elements Authority may also be required to deal with its supply drivers as staff.
“Employers can’t keep away from their obligations to pay the minimal wage and time beyond regulation by way of contracting with one other entity to acquire staff,” stated Solicitor of Labor Seema Nanda in a statement. “The U.S. Division of Labor will fight misclassification schemes and wage theft by way of pursuing all of the employers which can be accountable for depriving staff of their rights beneath the Honest Labor Requirements Act.”
The labor division’s Wage and Hour Division didn’t merely discover that these supply drivers have been wrongly handled as unbiased contractors. It additionally discovered that Elements Authority “failed to satisfy minimal wage necessities, paid straight-time charges for all hours labored, didn’t pay at time and a half for hours over 40 in a workweek, and didn’t hold required timekeeping information. The corporate additionally required staff to make use of their private automobiles for deliveries with out compensation.”
Yeah, that’s not good. The Honest Labor Requirements Act exists for a cause, and telling staff they’re unbiased contractors once they aren’t isn’t some magic money-saving loophole for issues like minimal wage and time beyond regulation legal guidelines. Fortunately, no less than on this explicit occasion, Elements Authority will face some precise penalties.
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“Parts Authority, Diligent Delivery Systems and Larry Browne misclassified nearly 1,400 delivery drivers as independent contractors, denying them of their rights to minimum wage, overtime pay and other benefits and protections,” said Principal Deputy Wage and Hour Administrator Jessica Looman. “We will continue to identify and address misclassification that not only hurts the workers who are deprived of their wages, but also puts responsible employers at a competitive disadvantage.”
If you believe you or someone you know may be owed back wages, the Department of Labor has a search software that may assist you determine what you’re owed. It additionally presents a downloadable app for monitoring your hours. And should you’re an employer, simply pay your staff what they’re owed. Even should you do handle to get away with wage theft, that’s nothing to be happy with. It simply makes you a shitty individual.