A Massachusetts courier service that allegedly misclassified drivers as independent contractors must pay $575,000 in back wages and liquidated damages to the 62 drivers.
A consent judgment the U.S. Department of Labor obtained followed a lawsuit against USPack Logistics LLC and its chief operating officer, Frank Powell, for what investigators said were violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act at the company’s Shrewsbury, Mass., location, according to a Sept. 30 news release.
“Employers must properly classify their employees to ensure that those workers receive all the wages and protection to which they are legally entitled,” Wage and Hour District Director in Boston Carlos Matos said, according to the release. "We encourage employers to take the time the understand the difference between employees and independent contractors under the Fair Labor Standards Act and to contact the Wage and Hour Division with their questions."
The consent judgment also directed the company to guarantee future Fair Labor Standards Act compliance at all of its U.S. locations, the release said.
An employer deprives workers of their rights and protections under the Fair Labor Standards Act by misclassifying them as independent contractors, New England Regional Solicitor of Labor Maia Fisher, also in Boston said, according to the release.
"The U.S. Department of Labor takes very seriously the issue of misclassification because it can function to exclude employees from the scope of the law’s protections," Fisher added, according to the release.
