Massachusetts Attorney General's Office issued the following announcement on Sept. 7.
The auto dealer Herb Chambers Companies will pay $116,758 in restitution and penalties for violating Massachusetts wage laws by taking improper deductions from employees’ paychecks to launder staff uniforms, Attorney General Maura Healey announced.
“Herb Chambers has agreed to change its practices and will pay back its employees,” said AG Healey. “We are pleased with this resolution.”
The AG’s Office opened an investigation after receiving a complaint from a Herb Chambers Porsche worker in Boston who alleged the dealership took $5 from every week of his pay to launder his uniform. After contacting the dealership, the AG’s Office learned that it had distributed a written “Uniform Deduction Authorization” to every employee upon their hire that failed to indicate the deductions for laundry services were voluntary. The AG’s Office concluded that the company had been making improper deductions from service employees’ wages from 2014 to 2017, resulting in an underpayment of wages.
As a result of the investigation, Herb Chambers agreed to pay restitution to 358 current and former employees and implemented new authorizations that include language indicating the deductions for laundry services are voluntary.
Original source can be found here.