FLSA issues?
Throwaway because I know I have coworkers/bosses on Reddit…
Location: Florida
I work for a distributor as a merchandiser. My job is to follow delivery trucks and put away deliveries on store shelves. My employment contract clearly states I am salary non-exempt..
I have been with this company almost 2 years now. When I started it was great, I could work fast and be home early with only working a handful of hours a day(m-f) and still get a 40hr paycheck. Late 2024, our company was bought out by a larger multi-state distributor. We exploded with business and things keep piling on. For the past year or so, I have been averaging 60hrs a week of work and still only being paid my base salary. I know this part is a violation…
The tricky part is my territory covers almost the entirety of my state. I regularly have to work in cities 2-4 hours away. By company records, I am listed as a central Florida merchandiser. Yet I regularly work in Ft. Lauderdale/miami/jacksonville/tallahassee. I have been averaging 1,000 to 1,500 miles a week on my personal car with only a $300mo car stipend. For reference, in the first 7 months of working for this company I put 110,000 miles on my car.
Our warehouse/HQ is an average of 45mins away from my home(26 miles to be exact). I do not start my day at our warehouse and usually start at the first delivery stop. In fact I am rarely there.
Can my employer claim that this excessive “travel time” is unpaid to mess with all this time I am putting in to do my job?
For reference, the 60hr average is calculated from when I leave my house to when I arrive back home minus 1.5hrs(roughly the round trip time to our HQ)
Thanks,