“What can Brown do for you?”

Many people remember this as the old slogan for United Parcel Service (UPS). According to a new lawsuit filed by the Attorney General’s Office in New York, in addition to delivering packages, what “Brown” can also allegedly do is steal wages from its seasonal workers.

The extensive lawsuit filed in New York County Supreme Court alleges UPS engaged in systematic practices of wage theft across dozens of UPS facilities in New York. The practices allegedly included making seasonal employees work for periods before their shifts without allowing them to clock in or, conversely, forcing workers to clock out and then having them continue to work afterward without pay. According to the lawsuit, UPS also automatically deducted lunch breaks even if no break was taken and perhaps worst of all, allegedly edited time sheets after the fact to deprive employees of overtime they worked. Supervisors were even trained in these “wage theft” practices according to the suit. UPS representatives, of course, denied the allegations.

Now, if true, the allegations in the lawsuit are extremely serious and problematic for the company. The Attorney General even hinted at a press conference that other states could join the lawsuit if UPS engaged in these practices elsewhere. I expect it will settle at some point, especially if the AG’s office uncovers some damning evidence of widespread practices, if it hasn’t already.

For local businesses in New York, this case highlights some important points beyond just, “Don’t do that.” First, make sure when an employee’s workday starts and ends is clearly defined in a written handbook. The same also applies for paid/unpaid breaks which have to comply with the law. Having written policies in place can often be critical in wage lawsuits. That being said, if you require employees to work before or after those defined periods, you still need to pay them.

Additionally, obviously editing time sheets to avoid overtime payments would be illegal and hopefully UPS wasn’t actually doing that, but it underscores the importance of maintaining accurate time and payroll records to counter these lawsuits.

Make sure to seek legal guidance on these issues before there’s a problem! For guidance on labor and employment issues, contact Jeff Basso at jbasso@cmmllp.com.