"It's hard to believe a company as big as labor Ready would do business this way," said Levoyd Williams, a plaintiff in the lawsuit. "Skimming money from the paychecks of everyday workers - that's just plain wrong."
Labor Ready's payroll deduction scheme was uncovered by building and construction trade unions participating in a national campaign to investigate and draw attention to abusive temp agency employment practices.
The cash dispensing machines were installed by Labor-Ready to pay workers in cash at the end of each workday. The machine charges workers a fee of $1.00 plus the change in their daily earnings. In Georgia, discounting a person's pay is illegal. If Labor Ready is found to have violated the law, the company will have to pay workers the lost wages plus $10 per person for each time the machine was used. Similar laws exist in other states, making further lawsuits a possibility.
Labor Ready, which has attracted employees with its "Work Today, Paid Today" slogan, is one of the largest and fastest growing temporary employment agencies in the country. It operates 839 offices in 49 states, Puerto Rico, Canada and the United Kingdom. Labor Ready is a leader in the national trend away from full-time, permanent jobs toward part-time, temporary, and contract staffing strategies. Today nearly three in ten working Americans are employed in contingent or non-standard employment.
The lawsuit is supported by the "Temp workers Deserve a Permanent Voice @ Work" campaign, launched by building and construction trades unions in April to shed light on the abuse of temporary agency workers in the construction industry.
July 19, 2000 Press Release from the Building and Construction Trades Department.
For more information contact Lindsay Barenz (202) 842-3100.