California company Cintas Fire Protection Services has agreed to an unpaid wages class action settlement that will allow 81 fire sprinkler installers and tester to collect back pay.
Cintas will pay more than $1.3 million in unpaid overtime wages, damages and penalties.
The U.S. Department of Labor investigated the company and found that workers were not paid for time spent sending emails, completing reports and submitting time sheets.
Cintas had tried to argue that those hours were billable to clients; the Department of Labor said those activities are not billable to clients.
“The results of this investigation should send a strong message about how seriously the Wage and Hour Division takes compliance,” said San Francisco Wage and Hour Division Office Director Susana Blanco. “Not only will dozens of workers now receive their long overdue wages, but Cintas has also agreed to a series of measures to prevent these types of violations in the future.”
Unpaid Wages Class Action Settlement Spurs Hotline
Cintas has now created a hotline for its employees to log complaints and a nationwide compliance team to ensure the labor laws are followed. In addition, Cintas has pledged to fire managers who allow employees to work off the clock.
San Francisco’s Wage and Hour Division estimates that Cintas owed workers for three hours of work a week from November 2011 and May 2015.
In this unpaid wages class action settlement, Cintas will pay a penalty of $1.3 million that will be split evenly between back pay and damages in addition to another $44,500 in penalties.
Cintas Branches Have Past Experience with Wage Issues
Cintas area offices around the country have received citations for disregarding wage and hour laws. In 2002, Cintas was faced with a $17,000 fine for changing time sheets to take away hours worked. In 2003, similar charges found them paying a $37,000 fine, and in 2013, Cintas paid a $7,000 fine for shorting workers’ weekend hours.
“It’s important for business owners to know there can be significant additional costs not to follow the law properly,” said Michael Eastwood, San Francisco Wage and Hour Division Assistant District Director.
Who is Cintas?
Before it made headlines for the unpaid wages class action settlements, Cintas was already a big name in the corporate world.
Cintas Fire Protection Services is a branch of Cintas Corp. of Cincinnati. Cintas provides corporate uniforms, entry and logo floor mats, restroom supplies, promotional products, first aid, safety, fire protection products and services, and industrial carpet and tile cleaning.
According to the Cintas website, they operate more than 400 facilities in North America, including six manufacturing plants and eight distribution centers.
Cintas provides products and services to more than 900,000 businesses and went public in 1983.
The company also is a member of the American Gaming Association and is “committed to supporting the gaming industry by helping commercial and tribal casino operators thrive, innovate and grow.”
Cintas is traded over the Nasdaq Global Market under the symbol CTAS.
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