Check’s in the Mail: TAC Worldwide is the latest company forced to settle a
wage-and-hour dispute. The staffing firm is paying nearly $2 million in back pay
to hundreds of employees who were inadvertently misclassified as exempt from
overtime. The Dedham, Massachusetts-based company had been sued by the
Department of Labor for alleged violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act. More
than 970 U.S. employees were affected. The issue came to light when the Labor
Department uncovered violations during an audit at a regional office of TAC
Worldwide, which specializes in the placement of temporary workers.
According to a statement by the Department of Labor, 973 employees of TAC
Worldwide were incorrectly listed as exempt from overtime rules, including four
employees who worked as payroll systems analysts or accountants at the company’s
Dedham headquarters. The remaining workers occupied temporary positions that
included project manager, business or project analyst, technical support, field
engineer, business analyst, technical writer, financial analyst, network
engineer, systems administrator, electrical engineer, technical manager, sales
representative, software tester, help desk representative, network administrator
and telecom engineer.
The affected employees reportedly were paid straight time for all hours
worked, even when they put in more than 40 hours a week. The agreement with
federal labor officials calls for TAC to pay those workers the difference
between straight time and time-and-a-half for the overtime hours.
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