A Mississippi delivery company has paid nearly $45,000 in back wages and other penalties for violating federal labor laws on overtime wages and payment for off-the-clock work, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced recently.
Two workers for Jackson, Miss.-based Douglas Inc., operating as Douglas Express Delivery, received $44,280 in back wages and liquidated damages for work they performed at home and off the clock, the DOL reported Oct. 12. The company was also levied with an $882 civil fine for repeat violations; Douglas Express was made to pay $157,568 in back wages to 59 employees in two previous investigations, the DOD reports.
The DOD reports that Douglas Express Delivery "allowed" employees to work from home, off the clock and without pay, in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act.
"After working their regular shifts and clocking out," the report states, "the employees would then continue to perform work-related tasks from home such as responding to customers’ phone calls, texts and emails, providing directions to drivers for deliveries and finding alternate drivers when vehicles broke down."
Investigators also determined the workers were owed time-and-a-half for the work done from home, as that work exceeded 40 hours in a workweek; the company was also fined for record-keeping violations for not documenting employees' work-from-home hours, the statement reports.
“The pandemic blurred the lines between home and office as safety dictated that some companies allow workers to complete job-related tasks from their homes," Audrey Hall, Wage and Hour district director, said in the report, "however, employers remain obligated to compensate workers for all their hours of work, including the time they spent working from home.”
Douglas Inc./Douglas Express Delivery is a ground-delivery contractor with locations throughout Georgia. The company, founded in 1958, delivers goods including auto parts, beverages, furniture, mail, medical supplies, office supplies and pharmaceuticals, according to the DOD.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts the transportation and warehousing sectors to add 327,300 new jobs in the next decade, the DOD reports. At the same time, employers in all industries are finding it harder to recruit and retain workers, the report states.
“As more people use e-commerce sites to shop and the demands on warehousing, logistics and delivery companies increase," Hall said, "employers must ensure they comply fully with worker protections of wages and benefits, regardless of where the work is performed.”
“Workers will naturally flock to businesses that show an ability to pay them their full wages as they are earned," Hall said.
