Employees of waste disposal services are alleging their employers owe them back wages due to violations of overtime laws.

There have been several lawsuits filed in recent years and months that point to a possible trend among waste disposal services. Workers for companies offering waste disposal services claim that they are often expected to work off-the-clock.

The unrecorded work is allegedly done either before a route is undertaken for the day—readying the equipment and documentation as needed—or done while the employee should be taking a meal break.

Workers trying to keep up with a daily workload expectation, yet forced to clock out to make the time card look as if they have had a legal break may be owed compensation.

Federal overtime laws specify that non-exempt employees working over 40 hours in seven consecutive days are to be paid one-and-one-half times their regular rate of pay for any hour over and above the 40 hours. Some states have overtime laws that are even more employee-friendly.

Waste disposal services workers, as with other employees, are allowed a 30-minute meal break for which they must clock out. Additionally, two 10-minute rest breaks in an eight hour shift must be offered and paid for by the employer.

But according to employees who are challenging waste disposal services companies in court, overtime laws are often ignored and the method for calculating standard and overtime wages becomes askew.

The alleged failure to pay for off-the-clock work before a route begins or while it is process, means that that time is not being counted toward the total 40 needed to reach overtime pay level. It may be a violation of law to require workers to mark time off for pre-shift duties or for a meal break there really isn’t time to take in the course of the day.

In a class action waste disposal services lawsuit filed in June 2018 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, plaintiff Harvie M. brought charges against the Wright Waste Management Co. whom he alleges repeatedly violated the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) by failing to pay overtime wages to himself and others like him. Harvie is a Houston-based driver who picks up and moves recyclable materials within the urban area.

Harvie says that he was not alone among employees that were shorted valuable overtime compensation. He seeks in his complaint to represent those drivers that had the same experience of this waste disposal services organization.

The class period for this action is three years retroactive to the date of filing. He seeks proper compensation for himself as well as class members. He also seeks liquidated damages, and monies for attorney and court fees.

Another legal action pending includes a Pennsylvania lawsuit where it was claimed that garbage and recycling collectors were expected to work often off-the-clock prior to route start.

The legal claim also indicated that meal breaks were deducted from paychecks when in fact, more times than not, there was no opportunity to take them. Compensation for meal breaks not taken was not restored.