U.S. Department of Labor Recovers $1.9 Million in Back Wages and Damages, Seeks Pennsylvania Direct Marketing Company Employees for Disbursement

MALVERN, PA – The U.S. Department of Labor is seeking current or former employees of American Future Systems - doing business as Progressive Business Publications - who may be owed a portion of $1,916,000 in back wages and liquidated damages recovered by the Department's Wage and Hour Division (WHD). American Future Systems is the parent company of Progressive Business Publications, a Malvern, Pennsylvania, direct-marketing company that publishes subscription-driven, business-to-business newsletters and other publications.

The Division estimates 8,382 individuals employed by the company from August 9, 2009, through January 3, 2016, at 18 call centers in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Ohio, may be eligible for payments. The Division provides its Workers Owed Wages search tool to assist workers owed back wages. If your contact information has changed since the period of the investigation, call 267-514-6072 or send an email to  WHDVM.PHILADELPHIAPADOPGR@dol.gov to provide an update.

The recovery is the result of a WHD investigation and U.S. District Court decision that found that American Future Systems failed to pay employees for compensable break time, which sometime brought wages below the federal minimum wage.

For more information about the FLSA and other federal wage laws, call the Division's toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Information also is available at http://www.dol.gov/whd. Employers who discover overtime or minimum wage violations may self-report and resolve those violations without litigation through the PAID program.