California Truckers Will Get $2.2 Million In Back Pay For Being Misclassified

By Alan Pyke

A California logistics company must pay more than $2.2 million in back pay to seven short-haul truck drivers it had illegally misclassified as independent contractors, a state labor board ruled on Wednesday, continuing a streak of victories for drivers who are asserting their labor rights in the state.

By labeling the drivers independent contractors rather than employees, Pacer Cartage, Inc. was able to avoid paying the workers for things like time spent waiting at the port to pick up a load and reimbursements for job expenses. Labor laws protect full-time employees from such wage theft, but independent contractors aren’t covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act, minimum wage laws, and other worker protections. The California Labor Commissioner’s Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE) ruled that the company “knew or should have known” that the drivers were employees rather than contractors and instructed Pacer to pay $2,214,496.39 in restitution, attorney’s fees, and interest.

Workers’ advocates stressed that Wednesday’s decision is especially significant because Pacer and its parent company XPO Logistics are one of the two largest companies in the industry. Gomez Law Group head Alvin Gomez called it “a tremendous victory” that “will force the drayage industry to make long overdue changes in their business practices.” Another member of the workers’ team told ThinkProgress that less than 20 percent of the total judgment is expected to go to legal bills.

<...>

As state labor authorities work through that litany of misclassification complaints from drivers, their cause is getting a boost from the feds as well. The regional arm of the National Labor Relations Board recently found that another company’s drivers should be considered employees rather than contractors, giving a federal stamp of approval to the drivers’ argument.

- more -

http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2014/04/03/3422713/california-truckers-misclassification-labor/