Overtime compensation may be available for residential waste disposal workers whose wages were miscalculated or underpaid.

Recent wage and hour lawsuits suggest that various residential waste disposal companies may owe their workers overtime compensation. Workers in the lawsuits argue that waste disposal companies committed a variety of wage and hour violations including not paying overtime, off the clock work, miscalculating overtime rates, miscalculating sick pay, miscalculating day rates, deducting time for breaks never taken by the worker, and more.

One lawsuit was filed by a Waste Management Inc. employee from Texas, who claimed that he was not paid overtime compensation for the hours he worked over 40 hours a week despite frequently working over this threshold.

The driver claimed that he and other workers were paid a day rate from which Waste Management deducted meal time. However, he allegedly rarely had the time to take a break during his shifts and reportedly worked off the clock during his meal period.

Another Waste Management employee from Pennsylvania claimed that the company frequently made him and other workers work off the clock. Before every morning’s mandatory meeting, the worker was allegedly required to complete several necessary tasks including picking up and preparing equipment, reviewing work for the day, making changes to work orders, reviewing paperwork and manifests, and finalizing his route for the day.

Although Waste Management allows residential waste disposal workers to clock in 15 minutes before the mandatory meeting, the lawsuit claims that “they are not paid for those 15 minutes, even though waste collectors are performing the required tasks integral and indispensable to their performance.”

Due to the alleged working off the clock, both lawsuits claim that Waste Management workers are routinely denied overtime compensation and that their hours are inaccurately accounted for by the company.

Another lawsuit against Waste Pro and Delta Sanitation was filed by employees who argued that they were denied overtime compensation and were in fact paid below their regular rate. Workers for Waste Pro are reportedly paid a flat daily rate which is reduced by half if employees work fewer than four hours in a workday.

Like allegations against Waste Management, the claims against Waste Pro argue that the company automatically deducts meal periods from worker pay despite the fact that employees work off the clock during these “breaks”. As a result, workers allegedly worked at least 2.5 hours a week over their normal hours – entitling them to overtime compensation.

However, plaintiffs say Waste Pro allegedly skirts paying workers overtime compensation due to the daily rate system. If an employee works less than four hours in a day, they allegedly receive half their rate of pay regardless of if they had worked over 40 hours a week.

Plaintiffs in these cases claim that residential waste disposal companies take advantage of their workers and violate several wage and hour laws by failing to pay overtime compensation. According to the complaints, these policies are widespread and likely affect employees across the country which work for the companies allegedly breaking the law.