Safety personnel for an oil industry contractor will be receiving $6 million to resolve claims asserted in a class and collective action that they were owed wages. Nearly 2,500 current and former employees of CertifiedSafety Inc. in six different states, that were employed as safety attendants or foremen, stand to benefit from the payout that will settle allegations that the company violated the Fair Labor Standards Act as well as individual state laws.
The lawsuit alleged that the oil industry contractor failed to pay its workers when they completed work off-the-clock and frequently denied them the proper break times. Specifically, the workers claimed that they were expected to work before they had clocked into their shift as well as after they had already clocked out, without any pay. They asserted that they worked 12-hour shifts for weeks at a time. Additionally, affected employees also went unpaid for mandatory training sessions and did not receive compensation for travel time needed to arrive at job sites. Other violations included being denied rest or meal breaks and not being reimbursed for tools and equipment needed on the job.
Even though these violations are widespread in the oil industry, many hard-working employees assume these are normal working conditions meant to be tolerated. However, oil and gas workers are entitled to receive pay for all hours worked as well as the correctly calculated overtime that takes into account all your wages, such as per diems and day rates. If you are an oil industry worker and are unsure if you are being paid correctly, do not hesitate to call one of our employment attorneys for a free and confidential consultation now. Fitapelli & Schaffer, LLP can be reached at (212) 300-0375 or you can view additional information on our website here.