Coakley
BOSTON (Legal Newsline) - Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley announced a settlement Friday with two companies to resolve allegations that they failed to pay more than $225,000 in vacation wages to separated or terminated employees.
Ryder Truck Rental Inc. and Ryder Integrated Logistics Inc. will pay a civil penalty of $71,300 to the state in addition to paying $225,083.48 to 170 former employees.
Coakley's Fair Labor Division alleged that a review of payroll documents and copies of the companies' vacation policies revealed that 170 employees were not paid earned vacation wages at termination or separate of employment between January 2006 and December 2009.
The Fair Labor Division becamse involved in the case after receiving a complaint from a former Ryder employee alleging failure to pay vacation wages upon termination.
Ryder fully cooperated with Coakley's office and has taken steps to ensure compliance with the state's vacation pay law. Massachusetts law requires that employers who choose to provide paid vacation to their employees treat vacation pay like other wages because the term "wages" includes all vacation time earned. Upon separation or termination from employment, employees must be compensated by their employers for vacation time earned under an oral or written agreement.