Labor Department fines Georgia waste firm for violations

An investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division’s Atlanta District Office has found that Southern Sanitation, Loganville, Georgia, violated the overtime and recordkeeping provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

According to a report by the Department of Labor, investigators found the waste management company failed to pay overtime to 32 employees. The employer paid truck drivers and helpers a fixed rate per day, without regard to how many hours they worked. By doing so, Southern Sanitation caused overtime violations when the employees worked more than 40 hours in a work week, and the employer failed to pay the required time-and-one-half their regular rate of pay.

Additional overtime violations occurred when the employer made deductions illegally for time spent in short rest breaks, which are compensable, and when deductions from pay were made for meal breaks that employees did not take. The employer also failed to maintain required time and payroll records.

The Labor Department has determined that Southern Sanitation will comply with the FLSA and pay the employees a total of $37,933 in back wages.

Southern Sanitation provides residential curbside solid waste and recycling services throughout Georgia.