Wage dispute for tour guides settled
A lawsuit over payment and exemption status for a California tourism company was recently settled, with compensation for the affected employees totaling about $250,000.
The heart of the suit involved a dispute over the appropriate recording of hours for and payment of tour guides who worked for the company, as well as their proper classification, according to local news source the Marin Independent Journal. The plaintiffs claimed that long shifts, sometimes in excess of 12 hours each day, reduced effective wages far below the state or federal standards.
The company's management said they believed that their operations qualified as a summer camp and paid their employees accordingly. The Fair Labor Standards Act includes a seasonal exemption that applies to wage and overtime requirements for workers at such establishments, according to Wage & Hour Insights. A federal court found that the company's operations - including tours and many off-premises activities, did not fit into that category and employees needed to be paid for their time and attendance according to the common FLSA standards.
Accurately defining and compensating employees should be a major consideration for employers. The use of attendance tracking software can help companies maintain proper records.
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