AFGE Local 1534 Begins Process for Distribution of $7.75 Million Settlement of Nationwide FLSA Overtime Union Grievance against the U.S. AID
Baltimore, Maryland. The Law Offices of Snider & Associates, LLC and AFGE Local 1534, which represents thousands of employees at the U.S. Department of State and USAID, announced today that they have reached a settlement with USAID in a Union Grievance over violations of the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).
The Settlement provides for payment by the U.S. Government of $7.75 million in damages for violations regarding overtime exemptions and back pay. The distribution of damages will commence shortly, according to Mr. Snider, who handled this case along with attorneys of his firm and members of his staff.
Under the settlement, USAID agreed to pay $7.75 Million to resolve claims by the Union on behalf of current and former USAID employees who were not compensated properly under the FLSA. In addition, USAID agreed that many employees were erroneously classified, meaning they should have been and will in the future be covered by the FLSA.
“The Union and USAID management worked together to resolve this matter,” said Michael J. Snider, Esq. of Snider & Associates LLC., Lead Counsel for the Union, adding that “this settlement will ensure that the Agency complies with the regulations under the FLSA and will protect both current and future USAID employees.” This resolution has been years in the making and eliminated the need for what would have likely been several years of protracted and costly litigation.
The essence of the action was that employees were erroneously classified as exempt from the FLSA, which are the federal laws protecting employees from being forced to work overtime without being properly compensated. Other key allegations included the denial of the choice of overtime payments in lieu of compensatory time, not properly compensating employees for travel time and failure to provide compensation for “off the clock” work, also known as suffer or permit overtime.