Five Farmland employees working in the company's Milan, Mo., processing facility filed suit on behalf of themselves, as well as current and former workers in the facility. The workers allege that federal and state wage-and-hour laws were violated when the company requires employees to be ready to work, with personal protective gear on, when the production line starts running but refuses to pay them for the time spent gearing up at the beginning of the day or cleaning up at the end of the workday. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, "donning and doffing" time is work time that must be compensated. "Farmland's workers are entitled to be paid the full amount of wages they have earned," explains Butsch, "and they want Farmland to revise its pay practices and follow the law." Several recent cases involving donning and doffing demonstrate the savings companies hope to achieve by violating the wage-and-hour laws:
€ In 2007, Gold'n Plump Poultry Inc. agreed to pay $1.2 million to settle donning-and-doffing claims brought by poultry workers in its Minnesota and Wisconsin processing plants. € In 2006, George's Processing Inc. agreed to pay $1.24 million in back pay to its poultry workers in a settlement negotiated with the Department of Labor. € Workers at various meat and poultry processing companies, including IBP Inc. and Perdue Farms, have benefited from settlements and judgments ranging from $8.4 million to $10 million in back pay. Mr. Butsch invites employees of the Milan plant to contact his firm at 314-863-5700 or fairwages@bsf-law.com if they wish to obtain information on the lawsuit and how they can participate. Federal law prohibits an employer from retaliating against any employee who seeks enforcement of labor laws.
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