Filing a wage claim?

[bbsam]

That's something the courts will consider, along with using a fedex supplied scanner, rain bags, mapping, etc. Among other things.

Because they haven't been down that road already?

 

[Bounty]

Because they haven't been down that road already?

And that road was considered illegal.

 

[socalfusions]

Call the state department of labor on the SOB.

Me and some other employees were discussing this due to the apparent common nature of settlements taking place.

highly dependent on state labor laws as Cactus mentioned. Good luck

True, as I mentioned I'm in ca.

Overtime
I believe your contractor would be liable for overtime pay based on the type and size truck you were driving. I would contact the California DOL to find out the specifics of the law and whether it applies to you.

The amount I'd be owed in OT would be considerable but I'm starting to believe I may be exempt from conflicting information. I'll definitely look into this more though.

If the truck is rated for over 10k lbs you're not eligible for overtime. If you're on salary lunch and breaks are on you to take. Unless you were instructed not to take them or disciplined for taking them. If you were just so slow you couldn't take a break, which is probably the case if you were with a trainer for 9 weeks, it's on you.
I would call him, leave a message, email and snail mail him letters saying you want your last paycheck. Say you don't want to have to get a lawyer involved since it'll be more expensive for everyone if you do. If you do need a lawyer you'll need good records.

The 10k rating is something I recall reading about before which is the main reason I figured I might not be eligible for OT, regarding the 9 weeks of training it's a grey area since I was coming in incredibly late even with the trainer and I showed I could finish in around the same time but the question of how much additional income this person was making as an incentive to overtrain me was a hot topic amongst my colleagues.

As a poster mentioned down below its possible I was just being used as a runner. The fact that they eventually caved and agreed to give me standard pay even though I continued to be used as a runner further reinforces this, why offer me the standard pay at all?

I have kept good documentation thus far and am prepared to involve a lawyer if need if that's necessary to get my check but will continue to contact my employer through the various methods you mentioned.

You are wrong about meal breaks in Cali. It is the responsibility of the employer as well to make sure they take them and at the required times. At Express the company is penalized if we don't take them or not on time.
Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE)

It also doesn't matter if the employee is salaried. Ground drivers don't meet the definition of an exempt employee.

This is where I get confused, I'm not sure what to believe. I know almost every ground driver rarely took lunch or breaks due to being in a state of perpetual motion to make pick up times and not come in ridiculously late.

That being said no one there seemed to know or complain about the legality of it but boy it would have been nice to have taken a break every once and a while.

So is there without a doubt wages to be owed for the non compliance of enforcing lunches/breaks?

U have been warned by me on a few of your threads.... I use to have a garbage contractor but I switched to a better one.

I was given a Ford rental that was just 50 lbs. over the 10k gvw limit to avoid calculations on OT pay for this peak season.

I was slightly amazed to see a decent Xmas bonus the past Saturday, but it was still lower than a proper OT pay if I remained in my GMC shorty box truck.

With getting paid salary or by the stop, u should have learned to snack~on~da~fly. Eating light snacks during your 10_12_14 hour days. If I see my next stop is 30 minutes away from my core zone, I break out my cheesy crackers n munch whilst I get to that stop, sipping purple koolaid aka grape Tang© and singing Kumbaya while I try to ignore that I'm not paid by the hour.

U also should have built a delivery driver routine, u poop in the AM at home or at the station before u get on the road . And then another deuce in the PM at home or after your done your route.

U won't catch me putting a weather bag over a FedEx tote and squatting in the cargo area. So that means "no quiero Taco Bell or any spicy food during the 6 days working week. Save that stuff on the weekends.

U will, however, pee in a bottle in the cargo area, not in the cab. We don't get paid for trying to find a restroom, but it does vary by route demographics.

BigMac, they tried to implement that, but it was shot down quickly since we demanded to get paid by the hour if that was the case

I suppose your mileage may vary between contractors but our bonus was a disgrace to what the OT would have been, this further added to the fuel of no one informing drivers that they were exempt from OT due to the 10k rating (that would have been nice to have known before putting in 10+ hour workdays).

While a new contractor would have been a breath of fresh air I feel like many of the same issues would remain.

Your tactics are sound and I ended up having to use most of them to stay relevant throughout the day.

Exactly except for in California that can get the contractor in a lot of trouble.

So even with the abstract work rules of contractor based operations at ground this doesn't matter because it's taking place in ca?

Your 'contractor' used training pay and had you ride as a trainee during peak just so he could use you as a cheap 'jumper.' You need an attorney, and sue both the contractor and fedex.

Since fedex settled with the drivers after a court ruled that contractors were employees of fedex. the ruling would make you an employee of fedex, the contractor, or both. Fedex was never forced to comply with the law since they settled. It is up to people like you who have been wronged to force compliance. I believe that you may also be entitled to both legal fees and triple damages since the employer didn't pay your final check within a set time.

If you left for good reason, or were terminated, file an unemployment claim. There are attorneys working on the 'co-employee' situation and google to find them, and maybe try to find the local attorney that was involved in the California fedex settlement. They may be looking for another class action to get rich from.

This whole bs of fedex using 'contractors' when their core business is delivering packages makes the whole 'contactor' scheme a scam for workers like you.

I agree with all of your points and would say without a doubt that I was used as a jumper.

I recall hearing about that court ruling and that Fedex almost ALWAYS settles out of court due to the bargain nature of doing so. The main thing that makes me cringe at going through this process is any fees that I'd have to cover in such an endeavor. I'm familiar with lawyers taking a cut of the settlement where they represent you at no cost which is something I'd be very interested in.

I'm not sure if the reason I left for would be "good," enough for an unemployment claim, I left because of the extended training pay and some other quality of life issues. I feel like I should be compensated in some form or another regardless.

It appears that the contractor scheme is a scam for both the drivers and the contractors themselves, one of the supervisors was going on about how fedex takes a huge cut of the individual package delivery fee and leaves contractors with a small static amount, fedex seems to want as little to do with the contractors as possible all in the name of simplicity and penny pinching.

No- drivers are not employees of FedEx- they just wear their uniform

This is what I initially believed but I'm not too sure at this point.

That's something the courts will consider, along with using a fedex supplied scanner, rain bags, mapping, etc. Among other things.

Yeah it's really a grey area when you start considering all of the legal settlements and branding surrounding the contractor operation.

 

[dmac1]

Almost any attorney will give you at least a half hour consultation at no cost. Look for a labor attorney. And California is employee friendly, even if federal laws don't require OT, California may, and I believe breaks are required even by the DOT. And to preserve your rights, I wouldn't even contact the contractor again.

 

[MAKAVELI]

Me and some other employees were discussing this due to the apparent common nature of settlements taking place.



True, as I mentioned I'm in ca.












This is where I get confused, I'm not sure what to believe. I know almost every ground driver rarely took lunch or breaks due to being in a state of perpetual motion to make pick up times and not come in ridiculously late.

That being said no one there seemed to know or complain about the legality of it but boy it would have been nice to have taken a break every once and a while.

So is there without a doubt wages to be owed for the non compliance of enforcing lunches/breaks?









So even with the abstract work rules of contractor based operations at ground this doesn't matter because it's taking place in ca?

Yes.
California Meal Rest Break Laws Truck Drivers Motor Carriers

Alexander v FedEx > mainpage > Settlement Agreement
D. “Meal and Rest Period Settlement Sub-Class” means:
All persons who: 1) entered into a FedEx Ground or FedEx Home Delivery
Form Operating Agreement (now known as OP-149 and Form OP-149-RES) between
November 17, 2000 and October 15, 2007; 2) drove a vehicle on a full-time basis
(meaning exclusive of time off for commonly excused employment absences) from
August 1, 2011 through August 31, 2015, to provide package pick-up and delivery
services pursuant to the Operating Agreement; and 3) were dispatched out of a terminal
in the state of California.

 

[dmac1]

The Alexander case doesn't mean much to you, since you didn't sign the contract with fedex. But failure to pay for breaks or to allow you a lunch break are valid reasons to leave a job and collect unemployment. File immediately. Plus you should sue for all the pay, remembering to include fedex as a defendant. As I said before, all your attorney fees should be covered, and you can subpoena fedex for the scanner records showing that you worked without a break. I'd report them to the DOT, because DOT requires a break, not necessarily a lunch break, every couple of hours. You could be a big help in getting fedex to make sure driver rights are protected. If they can make sure express drivers take a break, they can do it with ground drivers, 'to ensure compliance' as they like to claim for all the demands they make on contractors. Well, they should 'ensure compliance' with laws that protect drivers if they are going to use 'compliance' as a legal excuse.

 

[FedGT]

Isn't this the same OP fishing for workers comp info a couple of weeks ago?
The history of posts that you have made first looking for all information on potential workers comp claims and now this one looking to sue the contractor it is hard to say that you aren't painting a vary vivid picture of what your intentions have been for weeks.
I am assuming you were not fired, I am also assuming you still have uniforms that were not exchanged. What it boils down to is slim chance you will get much of anything from the contractor besides your paycheck and absolutely no chance you will get anything from FedEx, hoping for a settlement from Fedex for a contractors driver is ludacris in this type of situation for sure.

 

[OrioN]

Nah, GT, the OP witnessed another fellow employee doing that at his station...

That was bad that he didn't go solo though. it only takes about a week to get the powerpad functions, door tags, and service cross, up to be proficient, but I witnessed a few that stayed as a "team"