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One of the most common wage problems is work that never appears on the timecard. For transportation workers, off-the-clock work might include:
Washington’s Department of Labor & Industries states that employees must be paid for hours worked even when the employer did not authorize those hours. Employers may have workplace rules about unauthorized overtime, but those rules do not allow an employer to refuse to pay for work that was actually performed.
Transportation jobs can make wage violations particularly difficult for employees to identify. Unlike workers who report to the same workplace every day, transportation employees may spend most of their workday on the road, moving between different locations, customers, terminals, and job sites. You may start your day at one location and finish it somewhere completely different, making it harder to track exactly when your workday began, when it ended, or how much time you actually spent working. The industry is also spread out by nature. A driver may arrive early to inspect and prepare a vehicle, wait for dispatch, travel between locations, make an unscheduled stop, load or unload a vehicle, or complete paperwork and other tasks after the final delivery. If you don’t report back to the same location where you started, those extra hours and minutes can be particularly easy to overlook or go unreported altogether.
Compensation systems can add another layer of confusion. Transportation workers may be paid by the mile, by the hour, by the delivery or trip, through commissions, or through a combination of wages, bonuses, and other incentives. As a result, employees may not always realize when they are entitled to additional compensation. Some employees may assume that:
Those assumptions are not necessarily correct. Whether you are entitled to overtime or other wage protections depends on the actual circumstances of your employment, including your duties, compensation method, classification, and whether a specific exemption applies. In Washington, certain exemptions depend on specific job duties and compensation requirements, meaning your job title alone does not determine whether you are exempt from overtime protections. If you are unsure whether you are being paid correctly, our team can review how you are actually being compensated and determine whether your employer may owe you unpaid wages.
If you believe you are not being paid for all the time you work, you don’t have to figure out your rights on your own. Depending on the circumstances of your case, we may help you pursue unpaid:
Our attorneys can review your situation, explain your options, and help determine the best way to move forward.
You should not have to worry about the cost of hiring an attorney to find out whether you have a case. For qualifying wage and hour cases, James Hawkins Firm works on a contingency-fee basis. That means you pay no upfront attorney’s fees to retain our services. You do not have to pay us by the hour or come out of your paycheck or savings to hire our firm. Instead, our attorney’s fee is contingent on recovering money for you. If we don’t recover money for you, you don’t owe us an attorney’s fee.
Sometimes a wage violation is not limited to one employee. For example, a transportation company may have a common policy or practice requiring drivers to work through meal periods, perform pre-shift work without pay, automatically deduct time that employees actually worked, or improperly classify a group of workers as exempt or independent contractors. When the same or similar wage and hour practices affect multiple employees, James Hawkins Firm can investigate whether a group claim or class action may be appropriate. A class or group case can allow employees with similar claims to pursue their rights together rather than each worker having to proceed entirely on their own. Not every workplace dispute qualifies for a class action, and the requirements depend on the facts and applicable law. Our attorneys can evaluate whether your circumstances may support a collective or class proceeding.
Below are answers to some of the most common questions we hear about wage and hour claims for Seattle transportation workers. However, every case is unique, and you may still have questions about your specific situation. If you do, please call our team at 564-224-4500 to schedule a free consultation. Our team can answer your questions, review your circumstances, and help you understand your legal options.
Many transportation workers are entitled to overtime, but the rules can vary depending on your job duties, how you are paid, and whether a specific exemption applies. Washington generally requires eligible employees to receive overtime for hours worked over 40 in a workweek.
Not sure whether you are entitled to overtime? Contact the James Hawkins Firm for a free consultation. Our attorneys can review your specific job and pay structure to help determine whether you may be owed unpaid overtime.
Generally, an employer cannot require an employee to work without paying for compensable time. Washington L&I specifically states that employees cannot choose to work, or be required to work, “off the clock.”
An automatic deduction does not necessarily mean your employer has met its obligation to provide a lawful meal period. If you were required to work, remain on duty, or were interrupted during your meal period, you may be entitled to be paid for that time. If your employer automatically deducts lunch but you are still working, contact the James Hawkins Firm for a free consultation.
Being paid by mileage, delivery, commission, or another method does not automatically eliminate wage-and-hour protections. The applicable rules depend on the worker’s classification and circumstances. Washington requires most employees to receive at least the applicable minimum wage for every hour worked, and eligible employees may also be entitled to overtime.
A label does not necessarily determine your legal status. Whether someone is legally an employee or an independent contractor can depend on the actual working relationship and applicable legal tests. If you are unsure about your classification, it is worth having an attorney at the James Hawkins Firm review the circumstances.
Washington law protects employees from certain forms of retaliation for exercising protected workplace rights or raising wage and hour concerns. Retaliation can take many forms, and it is not always as obvious as being fired. For example, retaliation may include:
If you notice a significant change in how your employer treats you after asking about unpaid wages or exercising a workplace right, don’t assume you have to accept it. The circumstances matter, and retaliation may present a separate legal claim from the underlying wage violation.
You may not be the only employee affected. If a common policy or practice has resulted in unpaid wages for a group of workers, James Hawkins Firm can evaluate whether a class action, collective action, or another group proceeding may be appropriate.
If you work in Seattle’s trucking or transportation industry and believe you are not being paid for all the work you perform, you may have legal options. Whether the issue involves unpaid overtime, off-the-clock work, missed meal periods, minimum-wage violations, or another wage and hour violation, you do not have to take on your employer alone. For more than 25 years, the James Hawkins Firm has represented employees in employment-law disputes and helped individuals recover millions of dollars. We can evaluate your situation, identify potential wage violations, and determine whether you may have an individual claim or whether other workers may have been affected by the same practices. And you don’t have to worry about paying an attorney upfront. For qualifying cases, we represent clients on a contingency-fee basis. You pay no attorney’s fee unless we recover money for you.