Current Investigations
Getman Sweeney has succesfully settled many wage cases in industries where employees are regularly cheated out of overtime pay or other wages to which they are entitled. Just because a practice is common, does not make it legal. Many industries have pervasive and illegal pay practices. Listed below are industries where violations may exist.
Swift Transportation and Interstate Equipment Leasing
Getman Sweeney is investigating Swift Transportation Company and Interstate Equipment Leasing for anticipated litigation. We believe that Swift has been treating the drivers who lease trucks from IEL as independent contractors, when by law, they may be determined to be employees. By treating drivers as contractors, rather than employees, Swift still controls the drivers’ work in many ways, but shifts various costs and business risk to the drivers. The result of a misclassification if it is found to exist, is that Swift’s various charges, such as truck lease, insurance, tolls, administrative costs, and QualComm would be legally impermissible deductions from wages in many states. If you were a Swift and IEL “owner-operator,” please call Janice Pickering at Getman Sweeney to review your situation.
Money Transfer Company Envios De Valores La Nacional
The Attorney General of New York State found that "La Nacional" made illegal deductions from its employees wages, at times bringing their wages down to less than the minimum wage, and failed to pay the required time and a half for overtime hours. The Attorney General has settled their case against La Nacional for employees in New York, however claims for employees in other states have not yet been addressed. Getman Sweeney is investigating whether this company used the same illegal pay practices in other states. If you worked as a cashier for "La Nacional" in any state other than New York, please contact our office.
Tips for Service Industry Workers
Some service industry employers (such as caterers, restaurants, banquet facilities, airlines) charge customers a mandatory service charge, gratuity, or tip, but do not distribute the service charge to the service employees that earned it. The practical effect is that the employer or supervisors keeps part of the gratuity intended for the employee. For example, some restaurants and hotels include a mandatory 15% or 20% service charge or gratuity for food service, but distribute only part (or none) of the gratuity to the food servers. Recent court decisions have held that failure to turn over the entire amount of the tip or service charge to non-supervisory workers invalidates the employer’s claim for a “tip credit” against the current minimum wage. Thus many workers who receive only the federal minimum wage of $2.13 per hour (with the remainder of their wages in tips) are due an additional $4.42 per hour worked. Thus an employee working 40 hours per week would be entitled to $176 in back wages for each week plus an equal amount in “liquidated damages.” Thus a full time employee could be due more than $18,000 per year of employment, if the employer diverted some or all of the tips or service charge to supervisory personnel. This amount is due in addition to the amount of tips wrongfully taken. Tip pooling among non-supervisory employees is permissible, but if a supervisor or owner takes a cut, the employee must be paid at least the current state or federal minimum wage per hour ($6.55), by the employer.
Visa Holders
Visa holders are entitled to enforce the terms and conditions of work they are offered at the time they accept their visas. In addition the Department of Labor establishes certain minimum work standards for visa recipients including payment of at least the prevailing wage in effect for the occupation and location where work is performed. Limits, which vary depending on the visa type, are placed on the costs that employers can impose on workers for obtaining visas and traveling to the United States. Visa holders who may have such claims include H-1B (Specialty occupations), H-2A (Temporary or seasonal agricultural workers), H-2B (Temporary or seasonal non-agricultural workers), H-3 (trainees), and L (intra-company transfers).
Mortgage Originators
Mortgage originators (often called "loan officers", "account executives", or other titles) are routinely paid on commission or commission plus draw, or even a salary basis. Mortgage sales staff, who work from call centers are generally not exempt under any FLSA exemption. Even loan officers who are considered to be outside sales staff are frequently not exempt from the FLSA overtime pay requirement. Getman Sweeney has handled numerous cases for mortgage sales staff and is currently handling others. Despite years of back pay lawsuits, this industry continues to fail to abide by its obligation to pay loan officers overtime as the law requires.
Car Mechanics
Car mechanics are frequently paid either a salary or an hourly rate. There is no overtime exemption for auto mechanics outside of a dealership and so mechanics must be paid time and one half for all hours over forty in a work week. Some auto dealership mechanics may be exempt, however.
Health Aides
Health aides who work in private homes may be exempt if they spend more than 20% of their work time doing general household chores. However, home health aides that work in "institutions" generally are not exempt from the time and one half overtime requirement. This requirement is frequently violated. Getman Sweeney has successfully handled litigation in the past for home health aides.
Drivers of Vehicles under 10,001 Lbs.
On August 10, 2005, Congress changed the overtime law for drivers of vehicles with a Vehicle Gross Weight Rating of 10,001 lbs. or less. Drivers of these vehicles were generally exempt from the federal overtime law prior to August 2005 (if they carried goods across state lines, or if the goods originated out of state), but now these drivers are not exempt and are covered by the federal overtime law. This change in the law will have a very significant impact for Route Delivery Drivers (for example, Newspaper Route Drivers and sales managers who oversee drivers but also handle routes) and repairpersons (those who carry parts that originated out of state). This change in the law is one of the most positive developments in overtime law in the last two decades. It has gone largely un-noticed in the press and by employers, who may continue to believe that drivers of these vehicles are exempt, simply because they are carrying goods which originated out of state. Getman Sweeney is making a major effort to ensure that the law is enforced for repairpersons and drivers who are still being denied overtime despite the change in the law.
Mechanical/Electrical/Structural Designers-Detailers-Draftsmen
Mechanical/Electrical/Structural Designers-Detailers-Draftsmen, employees who make fabrication drawings from information provided by engineers or other professionals, are generally not exempt from the Fair Labor Standards Act overtime requirements. While some employees doing this work are paid overtime, many are not. In some industries, such as the oil and gas industry, many employers pay employees in these positions on a salary basis and do not pay overtime, even though federal law requires overtime pay. If your work falls within this category and you worked overtime in the last 3 years but were not paid for it, contact us. We can help determine if you are owed back wages and liquidated damages. If you are, we can help you collect them.
Cable Installers
Cable and line installers are frequently treated as independent contractors, even though they work for a single company exclusively, receive pay set by that company, and have no opportunity to increase income other than by working longer hours. Many such installers cannot be legally paid as independent contractors. If installers work more than 40 hours in a week and are not paid overtime premium pay at the rate of time and one half, there may be a valid claim for back pay and an equal amount in liquidated damages. The fact that the company pays such workers as an independent contractor and reports such pay on an IRS Form 1099, does not make this pay practice legal.
If you work in one of the industries described above and are not paid your wages or overtime, contact us: