Produce facility fined for denying wages to temporary workers
Lucca Freezer & Cold Storage, a company that stores and packages produce, has reached a settlement after being sued by the Department of Labor for failing to properly pay its temporary employees for their time and attendance. The Vineland, N.J., business owes $498,604 in back wages and damages to 1,720 of its workers, according to the DOL.
Some employers may not be aware of the regulations surrounding the payment of temporary workers, but the Fair Labor Standards Act offers these laborers many important protections. Lucca violated the FLSA's minimum wage, overtime and employee tracking regulations, as reported by The New Jersey Daily Journal.
"Temporary employment agencies serve valuable and legitimate business needs in today's economy," said Patrick Reilly, director of the Wage and Hour Division's New Jersey office. "But employers may not use such services to escape their responsibility to pay their workers [what] they are entitled to under the law."
The inspection of Lucca revealed that temporary employees were required to arrive 15 minutes prior to the start of their shifts, but they were not paid for this time, according to the Journal. This investigation is part of an overall initiative the DOL has begun to protect workers in New Jersey, where temporary employment is common in the summer.
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