BadBadBoss
Junior Member
What is the name of your state? NY
But company resides in VA
Am I looking at a multiple DOL violations by my co or just the ol' bait and switch? This very long but there may be a class action suit here involving employees from different states. If you have the time PLEASE READ. Please let me know if something stinks here:
I live in NY but I was hired in 2001 as a full-time employee for a company that heads its operations in VA. The job required 100% travel for 3 to 4 months at various locations in consecutive intervals for a total of 10 months per year with a recurring temporary 2 month lay-off each spring.
When beginning the job the pay was hourly non-exempt, just as computer hardware technicians should be paid. But what was strange about it was that the money was paid as 40hrs/wk (worked on site) with 39hrs/wk of recorded OT (not worked) to equal up the dollar figures of the agreed upon salary. That was done to lower unemployment insurance, and to rob the people they were to lay-off in the spring out of their full pay. They also had an expensive background check including a random drug test just a few wks prior to the lay-off that they thought would elliminate more unemployment pay outs. That backfired on them as everyone passed it and they were stuck with the costs. Talk about having a business plan.
At that time the expenses were paid by the company with a company provided credit card. The allotments were $80 for hotels, $65 for food. A "travel allotment" of $125 was provided every 3rd week for weekend travel home to see family and attend to personal business. Sounded reasonable to me.
In spring 02 half of the crew of 12 were laid off to leave 6. This was at the slow spring period so the impact was adaptable and no lay-off came for the rest. Instead, an "offer" was made verbally by an immediate manager to keep the remaining 6 of us. I say "offer" but they had already made the change in status and pay weeks before without notifying us. Only choice was to stay or go. There was nothing to sign. They moved us to a salary exempt status from hourly non-exempt performing the exact same job (a tech job that does not meet the DOL qualifications for exempt) and then in lieu of yearly lay-offs took $5000/yr salary from us in exchange for 2 months PTO (paid time off, like a teacher) during the yearly slow period. Really equalling 2 1/2 months off w/our 2 week vacas each yr. Of course we assumed, as implied, that this would be "unsolicited" paid time off.
The deal also pulled our company credit cards in leiu of a daily cash Per Diem. The allotment changed to from $65/day to $30/day for food and from $80/day to $65 for hotel. A loss of $50/day. That was a big financial hit for us. Essentially a loss of $15000/yr in expenses. It definitely required a lifestyle modification, but also afforded us the option to find cheaper than average accomodations (i.e. corporate apartments) and pocket the difference. That put back about about $5000 a year, making up the pay they were taking from the salary. They also revoked the home travel allotment of $125/3 wks. Amounting to another $2000/yr loss and making us captive at the remote work site for the duration of the year (10 months) with really no means to get home to see family. I seem to remember a law about "captive employee" somewhere.
When the busy season came in '02-03 we all soon found ourselves grimmacing about working 12+ hours a day, making up for the 6 layoffs that were never hired back, but we remained relatively content thinking about the 2 1/2 months off. Naturally when PTO came some received more paid time off than others (a couple of weeks) which was unfair and created animosity among the crew, even if not a DOL violation. But time is money and nothing was done to compensate it.
At the end of '03 co went even further by adding round the clock support as part of the job description without compensation for it. That pushed the workday from 12 hours to about 14, plus add'l Saturday phone support. I asked for an HR inquiry about exempt status which amounted to a few questions and then quickly swept under the carpet. No raise. No cost of living increase over 3 years. Nothing to compensate for extra duties and hours. Could we be considered displaced by the new job description based on the extra hours?
And heres a biggy: They also mandated specific hotels for some to stay at, but not all. Which effectively controls where you are around the clock removing any personal time what-so-ever. This also forced some individuals to pay more for lodging than others, removing the gains that could be made on the cash Per Diem, tilting the income balance even further. It was like "heres the money for your hotel, now you have to spend it at this specific place, but the other person can stay at the Hovel8 and pocket 1/2 the cash Per Diem". That sounds like 'Company Store' kind of stuff to me. Didnt they make that illegal in the '60s?
Then the slow period came spring '04 and they tried to put us to work during our paid time off. A clear violation of the verbal agreement made in 2002 with a manager who was long since gone. The co execs wanted to see the written agreement that showed our arrangement, knowing full well that there was nothing in writing. But we still had 5 witnesses to the same verbal deal and raised a huge fuss against it. The co backed off and only made us work sporaticly through the period; again granting select employees drastically imbalanced paid time off (some a month more when compared to others). There is clear evidence that discrimination existed favoring people who owned their own homes rather than employees only renting theirs. Being at home more to mow the lawn seemed to be a factor.
2 months ago they revoked all vaca and zeroed out any and all vacation time accumulated over the past 4 years for everyone. Breaking all co policy. Big $ losses for all, and begs the question if they are legally required to compensate when someone gains a week vaca through seniority.
Finally, last month when they refused to provide me travel expenses to and from a very far assignment, which would have kept me from ever visiting home for 3 months, I resigned. Since then employees have now been docked for partial days off (a violation of DOL Salary exempt requirements). They seem to constantly adding and adapting Salary Exempt requirements to suit their needs. While I can find precidence in the FSLA for almost everything they have done don't they need to show some consistency over the years instead of using parts they like when it suits them?
Thanks for taking the time to read the background above. But is there anything legally wrong here or were we just victimized by the system? How can you change someones exempt status without changing their duties? How many fringe benefits can legally be revoked before you have become displaced by the change? and Who should we contact for private representation as individuals from different states to pursue a common Labor law issue? An employee has already contacted DOL in NC who told them that the DOL has bigger fish to fry and to seek a private lawyer. We have already started individual savings funds for representation and are ready to pursue it. We would really like to get the back OT for 2 yrs, being paid at the wrong status and bring some kind of justice to the co. But I would be happy to qualify for unemployment based on wrong-doing on their part.
Thanks in advance for any advice.
But company resides in VA
Am I looking at a multiple DOL violations by my co or just the ol' bait and switch? This very long but there may be a class action suit here involving employees from different states. If you have the time PLEASE READ. Please let me know if something stinks here:
I live in NY but I was hired in 2001 as a full-time employee for a company that heads its operations in VA. The job required 100% travel for 3 to 4 months at various locations in consecutive intervals for a total of 10 months per year with a recurring temporary 2 month lay-off each spring.
When beginning the job the pay was hourly non-exempt, just as computer hardware technicians should be paid. But what was strange about it was that the money was paid as 40hrs/wk (worked on site) with 39hrs/wk of recorded OT (not worked) to equal up the dollar figures of the agreed upon salary. That was done to lower unemployment insurance, and to rob the people they were to lay-off in the spring out of their full pay. They also had an expensive background check including a random drug test just a few wks prior to the lay-off that they thought would elliminate more unemployment pay outs. That backfired on them as everyone passed it and they were stuck with the costs. Talk about having a business plan.
At that time the expenses were paid by the company with a company provided credit card. The allotments were $80 for hotels, $65 for food. A "travel allotment" of $125 was provided every 3rd week for weekend travel home to see family and attend to personal business. Sounded reasonable to me.
In spring 02 half of the crew of 12 were laid off to leave 6. This was at the slow spring period so the impact was adaptable and no lay-off came for the rest. Instead, an "offer" was made verbally by an immediate manager to keep the remaining 6 of us. I say "offer" but they had already made the change in status and pay weeks before without notifying us. Only choice was to stay or go. There was nothing to sign. They moved us to a salary exempt status from hourly non-exempt performing the exact same job (a tech job that does not meet the DOL qualifications for exempt) and then in lieu of yearly lay-offs took $5000/yr salary from us in exchange for 2 months PTO (paid time off, like a teacher) during the yearly slow period. Really equalling 2 1/2 months off w/our 2 week vacas each yr. Of course we assumed, as implied, that this would be "unsolicited" paid time off.
The deal also pulled our company credit cards in leiu of a daily cash Per Diem. The allotment changed to from $65/day to $30/day for food and from $80/day to $65 for hotel. A loss of $50/day. That was a big financial hit for us. Essentially a loss of $15000/yr in expenses. It definitely required a lifestyle modification, but also afforded us the option to find cheaper than average accomodations (i.e. corporate apartments) and pocket the difference. That put back about about $5000 a year, making up the pay they were taking from the salary. They also revoked the home travel allotment of $125/3 wks. Amounting to another $2000/yr loss and making us captive at the remote work site for the duration of the year (10 months) with really no means to get home to see family. I seem to remember a law about "captive employee" somewhere.
When the busy season came in '02-03 we all soon found ourselves grimmacing about working 12+ hours a day, making up for the 6 layoffs that were never hired back, but we remained relatively content thinking about the 2 1/2 months off. Naturally when PTO came some received more paid time off than others (a couple of weeks) which was unfair and created animosity among the crew, even if not a DOL violation. But time is money and nothing was done to compensate it.
At the end of '03 co went even further by adding round the clock support as part of the job description without compensation for it. That pushed the workday from 12 hours to about 14, plus add'l Saturday phone support. I asked for an HR inquiry about exempt status which amounted to a few questions and then quickly swept under the carpet. No raise. No cost of living increase over 3 years. Nothing to compensate for extra duties and hours. Could we be considered displaced by the new job description based on the extra hours?
And heres a biggy: They also mandated specific hotels for some to stay at, but not all. Which effectively controls where you are around the clock removing any personal time what-so-ever. This also forced some individuals to pay more for lodging than others, removing the gains that could be made on the cash Per Diem, tilting the income balance even further. It was like "heres the money for your hotel, now you have to spend it at this specific place, but the other person can stay at the Hovel8 and pocket 1/2 the cash Per Diem". That sounds like 'Company Store' kind of stuff to me. Didnt they make that illegal in the '60s?
Then the slow period came spring '04 and they tried to put us to work during our paid time off. A clear violation of the verbal agreement made in 2002 with a manager who was long since gone. The co execs wanted to see the written agreement that showed our arrangement, knowing full well that there was nothing in writing. But we still had 5 witnesses to the same verbal deal and raised a huge fuss against it. The co backed off and only made us work sporaticly through the period; again granting select employees drastically imbalanced paid time off (some a month more when compared to others). There is clear evidence that discrimination existed favoring people who owned their own homes rather than employees only renting theirs. Being at home more to mow the lawn seemed to be a factor.
2 months ago they revoked all vaca and zeroed out any and all vacation time accumulated over the past 4 years for everyone. Breaking all co policy. Big $ losses for all, and begs the question if they are legally required to compensate when someone gains a week vaca through seniority.
Finally, last month when they refused to provide me travel expenses to and from a very far assignment, which would have kept me from ever visiting home for 3 months, I resigned. Since then employees have now been docked for partial days off (a violation of DOL Salary exempt requirements). They seem to constantly adding and adapting Salary Exempt requirements to suit their needs. While I can find precidence in the FSLA for almost everything they have done don't they need to show some consistency over the years instead of using parts they like when it suits them?
Thanks for taking the time to read the background above. But is there anything legally wrong here or were we just victimized by the system? How can you change someones exempt status without changing their duties? How many fringe benefits can legally be revoked before you have become displaced by the change? and Who should we contact for private representation as individuals from different states to pursue a common Labor law issue? An employee has already contacted DOL in NC who told them that the DOL has bigger fish to fry and to seek a private lawyer. We have already started individual savings funds for representation and are ready to pursue it. We would really like to get the back OT for 2 yrs, being paid at the wrong status and bring some kind of justice to the co. But I would be happy to qualify for unemployment based on wrong-doing on their part.
Thanks in advance for any advice.
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