NEW YORK (Legal Newsline) -- New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said Thursday his office has settled with two New York City-based moving companies that allegedly failed to pay legal wages to their employees.
Shleppers Holdings LLC and iMoveGreen will pay close to $450,000 to settle allegations that they violated New York Labor Law.
Shleppers Holdings, doing business as Shleppers Moving & Storage, and its owners will pay $350,000, while iMoveGreen will pay $95,000 to about 200 workers who were allegedly underpaid.
The attorney general also announced an educational initiative meant to increase labor law compliance in the moving industry.
"Movers do strenuous work and must be paid properly according to the law. With these settlements, my office is making sure that workers are paid the wages they deserve," he said in a statement. "My office is committed to seeing broad-based compliance in the moving industry.
"In addition to investigating companies that rip off their workers, we are committed to providing information to moving companies and we invite owners and managers to learn about their obligations under New York labor laws."
Schneiderman said his office will send letters to more than 500 moving companies licensed in the state to advise employers of their legal obligations.
The letters invited the owners of state moving companies to attend seminars to address different labor law aspects as applied to their companies. The seminars will be held July 31, Aug. 1 and Aug. 2.
New York Labor Law requires most employees to be paid at least time and a half of their regular pay rate for hours worked above 40 in a single week of work.
Even if an employer is covered by the Motor Carrier Exemption to the general rule, the employer must still pay at least one and a half times the minimum wage, currently $7.25 per hour, for hours worked above 40.