An Illinois meat processing and packaging plant will have to pay $3 million in back wages, damages and interest after denying 283 workers overtime pay. The investigation, which was conducted by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division and the Illinois Office of the Attorney General, found that Greenridge Farms, owners Michael Madej and Sebastian Madej, and KLC Global Services Ltd. violated federal and state regulations by paying affected workers one rate for all hours worked. Workers were issued checks for their first 40 hours and paid in cash for all additional hours, failing to pay the required time and one-half their hourly rate. The deli products manufacturer violated the Fair Labor Standards Act and the Illinois Minimum Wage Law for at least 9 years.
In a recent quote, Wage and Hour District Director Tom Gauza said, “Working with the State of Illinois, our investigators discovered that Greenridge Farms intentionally denied 283 workers their full-earned wages for seven years. The wages recovered for these workers will have a significant impact on these workers' lives. Many of them may have not understood their rights to overtime.”
Regional Solicitor of Labor Christine Heri in Chicago added, “The Department of Labor is determined to use all available tools – including working with our partners in the Office of the Illinois Attorney General – to hold employers accountable for depriving employees of their rightful earnings.”