LANCASTER, TX – With a sharpening focus on the impact of “supply chains” on the timely delivery of goods, many Americans now understand that their ability to obtain goods and services depends on the hard work of logistics industry workers.
At a Lancaster distribution center, 31 logistics workers recently discovered their employer wrongly claimed they were not entitled to overtime pay, leading to a U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division investigation and the recovery of $127,567 in overtime back wages due to the workers.
Federal investigators found Boone Logistics Services LLC – a Florida-based provider of logistics solutions – wrongly claimed the 31 “yard hostlers” were not entitled to overtime due to the nature of their work. He paid these employees only their straight time pay even when they worked more than 40 hours in a workweek, a violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act. Yard hostlers are typically used to move truck trailers and fill or empty containers around work sites, and in and out of loading docks.
“Too often, logistics industry workers – particularly those who work in the yard – are illegally denied the overtime they are due,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Jesus A. Valdez in Dallas. “Boone Logistics has a responsibility to comply with the law and ensure that workers are paid all of their hard-earned wages. We encourage all employers in the industry to review their pay practices to be certain they comply with federal requirements.”
Based in St. Petersburg, Florida, Boone Logistics Services LLC has operations in eight states and provides trailer yard management services to manufacturing and distribution centers nationwide. Its services include trailer spotting, shuttling, gate management and trailer leasing.
For more information about the FLSA and other laws enforced by the division, contact the agency’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Learn more about the Wage and Hour Division, including a search tool to use if you think you may be owed back wages collected by the division. Workers can call the Wage and Hour Division confidentially with questions – regardless of their immigration status – and the department can speak with callers in more than 200 languages.
