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Department of Defense (DOD) truck drivers have negotiated a settlement with the federal government’s Army and Air Force Exchange Service that will end their collective action claims that they were underpaid. The trucker overtime lawsuit settlement reached between the drivers and the government is $7.95 million and will provide benefits to 184 drivers.
The terms of the DOD trucker overtime lawsuit settlement were not announced, but the Court of Federal Claims was informed that in addition to compensating drivers, around $3.2 million will go to compensating the drivers’ attorneys, in the form of fees and costs.
Robert A. was the driver who filed the Army and Air Force Exchange Service (AAFES) driver collective action. He filed the federal government wage and hour collective action in 2017 and claimed that the service miscalculated and used a formula to calculate wages that did not correctly calculate rest breaks and hours worked. Allegedly, this miscalculation led to workers being underpaid.
More specifically, Robert stated that the formula improperly included rest breaks in the workers’ calculated hours, even if they did not take the breaks. He says that though the breaks were deducted from paid time, the workers were not able to leave during the breaks.
Adams argued that in effect, the workers were not paid hourly, but were paid per task that they performed.
Has the AAFES Faced Action Before?
This is not the first time that the Army and Air Force Exchange Service has faced collective action claims of underpaying its workers. Previously, overnight workers argued that they were not given the agreed-upon pay bump that they were entitled to for working overnight. The AAFES ended these claims with a settlement struck in 2017.
The 2017 settlement was worth $4 million and aimed to give back pay to around 7,000 workers for allegedly unpaid wages.
What Is the Army and Air Force Exchange Service?
The Army and Air Force Exchange Service is a service that provides retail goods to army and air force members, and provide troops with discounted uniforms. Additionally, the exchange participates in disaster relief efforts and has a program that provides school lunches to students at Department of Defense Schools around the world.Â
The idea of piece-rate pay has been at issue in other parts of the trucking industry, as well. Drivers can be paid in a range of ways, including per mile, per hour, or per job. Paying per job can also be described as piece-rate payment. Some drivers have claimed that in some cases, paying per-piece may lead to workers not getting paid for parts of a job other than the driving itself, such as set up, maintenance, and other tasks.
Freight Waves explains that such claims were made in a Washington State Supreme Court — workers had argued that they should be paid separately for driving and for other work performed. However, the court decided that wage averaging was appropriate, because the workers were being paid at least minimum wage for all of their work, even though their work was being considered on a per-piece basis.Â
However, other courts might make other decisions, and might say that drivers need to be paid not just on a per-piece rate for driving, but specifically for non-driving work.
Another element at issue in the Army and Air Force Exchange Service trucker overtime lawsuit is the issue of breaks. In another instance, the Department of Labor indicated that truck drivers are not necessarily entitled to be paid for the time that they spend sleeping during trips, as long as they are relieved of all duties. According to SHRM, this issue is one that has been the focus of some debate, as it shows up in the Fair Labor Standards Act.Â
The Department of Defense Truck Drivers Lawsuit is Case No. 1:17-cv-00239, in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims.
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If you have worked as a contract truck driver and believe your carrier has failed to pay you minimum wage or overtime, or otherwise might not have honored a contract with you, you may qualify to file a truck driver lawsuit or class action lawsuit.
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