The U.S. Department of Labor has reached a $1.2 million settlement with a North Carolina staffing company who officials say engaged in wage theft with hundreds of poultry workers, the federal agency announced on Tuesday in a press release. Marshville, North Carolina-based Unicon provides chicken catchers and van drivers to poultry farmers in Delaware as well as eight other states and Washington, D.C.
Unicon has paid nearly $600,000 in back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages to 838 workers as part of a settlement agreement with the U.S. Department of Labor. Investigators with the department’s Wage and Hour Division found violations of the Fair Labor Standard Act’s overtime and recordkeeping provisions at the company’s worksites throughout the northeast and southeast.
The violations resulted from the company’s failure to pay for all the hours employees had worked. Specifically, Unicon made automatic deductions from payroll for lunch and other breaks that crew leaders and catch crew members did not actually take. The firm also failed to pay workers for time they spent on work activities prior to the start of the actual catching process, and failed to pay crew leaders for time spent picking up catch crew members and cleaning company vans. The division also cited the employer for not maintaining time and payroll records.
“This agreement goes a long way to ensure that Unicon’s workers are made whole by providing the wages they earned. It also levels the playing field for other employers in this industry,” said Mark Watson, administrator of the division’s Northeast Region. As part of the settlement, the Wage and Hour Division agreed not to issue a notice of civil money penalty nor bring an action in federal court against Unicon. But, Wage and Hour did not waive its rights to conduct future investigations, the settlement stated.
The Fair Labor Standards Act requires that covered, nonexempt employees be paid at least the minimum wage of $7.25 per hour for all hours worked, plus time and one-half their regular rates, including commissions, bonuses and incentive pay, for hours worked beyond 40 per week. Employers also must maintain accurate time and payroll records.
