US Department of Labor wins consent judgment requiring traffic control company to pay employees for time spent transporting co-workers

NILES, MI – A recent court order requires one of the nation’s largest traffic control companies to pay road flaggers in Indiana, Michigan and Ohio for time they spend transporting their co-workers in a company truck to and from job sites at the company’s request.

Following an investigation, the U.S. Department of Labor obtained a consent judgment in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan, Southern Division, requiring AWP Inc. to pay 18 road flaggers $6,311 in overtime back wages and $288 in pre-judgment interest.

The department’s Wage and Hour Division found that AWP – which operates as Area Wide Protective – assigned road flaggers to transport co-workers in a company truck to and from job sites before and after the workday but failed to record or pay for that extra work time. In doing so, the employer miscalculated the total number hours employees worked and failed to pay overtime when employees exceed 40 hours during a workweek – all Fair Labor Standards Act violations.

The affected employees work at the company’s Niles facility. AWP will begin paying its road flaggers in Indiana, Michigan and Ohio for time spent transporting their co-workers unless it is voluntary.

“Being required to pick up another employee on the way to the job site and taking them back to the pickup site at the end of the day is more than incidental to the use of the vehicle for commuting, and needs to be counted as work time,” explained Wage and Hour Division District Director Mary O’Rourke in Grand Rapids, Michigan. “Employers must accurately record and pay their employees for all of the hours they work. An investigation like this one ensures that workers get paid the wages they have earned, and levels the playing field for employers that comply with the law.”

Based in North Canton, Ohio, AWP provides temporary traffic control management services to major utility companies, municipalities, contractors and events companies and operates in 23 states.

For more information about the FLSA and other laws enforced by the division, contact its toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Information is also available at www.dol.gov/agencies/whd, including a search tool to use if you think you may be owed back wages collected by the Division.

Case No: DOL v. AWP INC. D/B/A Area Wide Protective, 18-CV-1183