Milwaukee-based Northwestern Mutual denies the allegations, pointing to a similar trial it was involved in last year. In that case, a federal judge in Pennsylvania ruled in favor of Northwestern Mutual, saying it had the right to retain certain employees as independent contractors.

The plaintiffs named in the San Diego lawsuit contend that they had little to no autonomy and decision making capabilities. They also allege that they had to work more than eight hours per day and more than 40 hours per week without overtime. All three plaintiffs were employed as financial representatives of Northwestern Mutual, two of them in California and the other in Georgia.

In addition to financial compensation, the plaintiffs also seek the reclassification of hundreds of former and current Northwestern Mutual representatives from independent contractors to full-time employees.

Because the Fair Labor Standards Act extends only to company employees, some corporations will classify employees as independent contractors to avoid FLSA rules and save money. Corporations that classify employees as independent contractors not only avoid paying minimum wage and overtime, they also avoid paying state and federal taxes on those “exempt” employees.

Through its independently owned agencies, Northwestern Mutual employs approximately 7,000 financial representatives in the U.S. The company provides insurance, annuities, mutual funds, and, ironically, employee benefit services.

SOURCE: Fair Labor Standards Act › Northwestern Mutual reps sue company for FLSA violations

The fine was the first one issued by the Wage and Hour Division under the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 – a statute that raised the penalty to $50,000 for each violation of child labor laws resulting in death or injury. Subsequent violations of the same laws result in maximum fines of $100,000.

The demolition company must also pay more than $3,000 for failing to keep accurate records, which investigators believe may have contributed to the accident. Additionally, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited the company nearly $24,000 in penalties for seven safety violations at the work site where Luis Montoya, 15, was killed.

Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis, herself a longtime crusader for workers’ rights said “the federal rules governing the employment of minors are clear, and the consequences for failing to comply are serious.”

“Young workers must be employed safely and legally,” she said.

The Wage and Hour Division lists on its web site industries that it deems too unsafe for workers younger than 18. “Occupations involved in wrecking, demolition, and shipbreaking operations” are among those trades listed as unfit for minors.

The Wage and Hour Division’s investigation of the company also uncovered extensive violations of FLSA overtime pay regulations. The agency cited Demon Demo on violations involving 126 workers and ordered it to pay $108,869 in back wages.

The Atlanta Journal Constitution suggested that Montoya’s family may seek legal action against the demolition company. “They don’t feel fully vindicated,” the family’s attorney told the AJC. “This is a company that received a $50,000 fine, yet this is the third time this company has been in violation.”

SOURCE: Fair Labor Standards Act › Teenager’s death leads to multiple FLSA and OSHA fines for Georgia company

Buffalo Rock is one of the country’s largest privately owned Pepsi-Cola bottlers with 14 distribution centers in Alabama, Florida, and Georgia. Its distribution area covers a population of 6.5 million.

Employees represented by the suit contend that Buffalo Rock violated the Fair Labor Standards Act when it failed to pay them and others in the company for work performed over the regular 40 hour work week.

“Buffalo Rock knowingly, intentionally and willfully violated the Fair Labor Standards Act by failing to pay plaintiffs and all similarly situated employees the overtime compensation to which defendant Buffalo Rock knew they were entitled,” the lawsuit says.

Buffalo Rock maintains that the FLSA’s overtime clause doesn’t apply to the overtime hours clocked by the workers represented by the lawsuit.

Provisions for overtime pay are a common basis for many lawsuits citing FLSA violations. FLSA regulations exempt certain workers, such as executive, administrative, professional and outside sales employees, from overtime. However, according to the Department of Labor, “employees generally must meet certain tests regarding their job duties and be paid on a salary basis at not less than $455 per week.” Misclassification of employees, unclear employment agreements, or simple misunderstanding of the law are common violations of FLSA provisions.

SOURCE: Fair Labor Standards Act › class action filed against Alabama company for FLSA overtime violations

Brown is an agent for LiveOps, a company based in Palo Alto, Calif., with a national network of 16,000 operators who work from home answering the phone for TV infomercials.

Brown, who lives in Houston, works in her pajamas and never knows what she’ll be selling until the script pops up on her computer screen.

“You have to learn to be relaxed,” Brown said.

LiveOps is on a hiring spree, ramping up to handle all the calls for exercise machines and diet plans from viewers trying to live up to their New Year’s resolutions.

LiveOps would like to add 200 agents to the 180 who are already working in Houston, said Tim Whipple, vice president of the virtual call center, whose clients include the sellers of Ronco knives and rotisserie ovens, Hip Hop Abs fitness program, WalkFit shoe inserts and the Whitney Education Group’s program on foreclosure investing.

LiveOps also handles the calls for 1-800-Flowers.com and Pizza Hut, he said.

The work-at-home model works well for the company, which must staff up when its customers are in the buying mood — and that often occurs in the middle of the night.

The sophisticated shift-scheduling program it uses can also handle huge short-term spikes such as pizza orders during the Super Bowl, Whipple said.

It’s also an attractive model for the many stay-at-home moms — and some dads — who want to pocket extra cash.

“It’s been the best thing that ever happened,” said Brown, who has a degree in marketing.

She has four children, ages 2, 3, 7 and 10, and wanted a way to supplement her husband’s salary as a middle school teacher.

Day care is expensive, Brown said, so she wanted a job that she could do when her children sleep and her husband is at home. A friend told her about LiveOps.

As a telephone agent, Brown picks her own schedule once a week. She often signs on at 9 p.m. and works for several hours. And there’s no commute.

Brown said she earns between $12 and $14 an hour and that she works about 20 hours a week. She has to provide — at her expense — a dedicated phone line, phone, a computer and high-speed Internet access.

She only earns money when she’s on the phone, which Whipple said is roughly 25 cents a minute plus any commissions.

The number of calls routed to Brown and other agents depend on their selling skills and ability to sell up — selling extra items callers agree to buy after listening to the agent’s sales pitch — as well as their speed. The better you do, the more calls you get.

When there is a lull between the calls, Brown said she watches movies or pays bills.

Not for everyone

However, the job may not be for everyone. That’s because agents aren’t paid for the time they spend waiting for calls and training, including watching the infomercials.

LifeOps treats its agents as independent contractors rather than employees, Whipple said, which means they don’t receive overtime pay when they work more than 40 hours a week. While agents can earn as much as $20 an hour, the average is more like $8 to $12 an hour, he said.

But a recently filed lawsuit by two agents in Georgia contends they don’t even earn the minimum wage when their training time and nonpaid downtime between calls are factored in. The two women argue they’re employees — not independent contractors — and are entitled to minimum wage and overtime pay.

The federal court rules in the Southern District of Georgia discourages attorney comment on pending litigation, said Mark Johnson, a lawyer with Gilbert, Harrell, Sumerford & Martin in Brunswick, Ga., who is representing the two women.

LiveOps spokeswoman Elizabeth Gordon said the company had no comment.

No office policies

Rose Johnson Branch, who is not a part of the lawsuit, estimates that she works 50 hours a week as a LiveOps agent in Houston, fielding infomercial calls as well as pizza orders from all over the country.

Branch said she typically earns between $15 and $20 an hour with LiveOps, depending on bonuses.

“The phone doesn’t stay idle much,” she said, crediting her experience and picking up every call with a smile in her voice. And there’s no office politics.

“In corporations, there are certain politics to play to get promotions,” she said. “The system has no idea you are in your pajamas. It just knows a lot of orders, a lot of up-sales. It’s a very nondiscriminatory system, and I love it.”

SOURCE: They pitch sales in their pajamas, by L.M. Sixel, Houston Chronicle

SOURCE: Fair Labor Standards Act › They pitch sales in their pajamas