Staffing company Labor Source has been sued for alleged overtime violations.  Labor Source is a staffing agency with its principal office in Olathe, Kansas, and other main offices in Kansas City, St. Louis, San Antonio, Dallas, Houston, Brownsville, Orlando, and Pittsburgh.  The company hires workers, generally manual laborers, to perform work on a project-by-project basis in various states. According to the lawsuit, which was filed in federal court in North Carolina, Labor Source workers are transported by passenger van or bus from the local office to the worksite. These worksites are allegedly often “hundreds of miles away from the workers’ homes.” The workers are not compensated for their time traveling and incur expenses during travel, including gas, tolls, and food. In fact, defendant deducts between $7 and $20 a week from each of its workers’ pay, in part, for these expenses and for “shuttle fees.”  The workers also have lodging deducted from the pay.  The suit alleges that Labor Source’s clients often underreport the hours worked by the workers, and that the workers do not receive typical itemized wage statements and paychecks.  The plaintiff alleges that the travel and lodging deductions combined with the inaccurate reporting of hours worked led to plaintiff, and leads to those similarly situated, being paid below the FLSA-mandated minimum wage and not being paid time-and-a-half for overtime. The suit alleges that at each of the projects the plaintiff worked on, defendant “instituted and implemented the[se] same policies and practices regarding timekeeping, recordkeeping, lodging, and expense deductions.”

The federal court in North Carolina recently refused to certify a nationwide class, holding that it only had jurisdiction over those workers who worked in North Carolina.  Thus, Labor Source workers who did not work in North Carolina will not be able to join this suit, and will need to pursue their claims in another lawsuit.  If you worked for Labor Source and were not paid for all hours worked and/or had travel and lodging deductions taken from your pay, contact an experienced overtime attorney to learn of your legal rights.  

About the author: Josh Borsellino is a Texas attorney that represents workers on claims for unpaid overtime.  For a free, no-obligation, confidential consultation, call Josh Borsellino at 817.908.9861 or email him through this link today.