Walt Disney Settles Florida Wage Dispute For $3.8 Million

ORLANDO, FL — Walt Disney Co. has agreed to pay out $3.8 million in back wages to employees of two of its Florida holdings to bring the company in compliance with the federal Fair Labor Standards Act.

The announcement of Disney's agreement with the U.S. Department of Labor was made on Friday. The settlement will provide back wages to 16,339 employees of Disney Vacation Club Management Corp. and the Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, both of which operate in Florida, according to the department of labor.

The two Disney holdings, the department said, deducted a “costume” expense from some employees’ pay that caused their wages to fall below the federal minimum wage. “The resorts also did not compensate employees performing duties during (a) pre-shift period before the designated start of their shifts, and during a post-shift period,” a media release from the department of labor said. The agency also said the resorts didn’t keep proper time and payroll records.

Under the terms of the agreement, which Patch obtained a copy of, Disney did not admit to any of the violations alleged by the department. The alleged violations occurred between Nov. 6, 2013, and March 2017, at Disney's Old Key West Resort. For other Florida Resort Hotels, the investigation period covers Jan. 1, 2015, through March 2017. The agreement covers 698 employees who worked at the Old Key West Resort during the investigation period and 15,641 employees at Disney's other Florida hotels.

Disney must make the back wage payments on or before July 31. Proof of payments must be provided to the Department of Labor by Aug. 31, the agreement states. Disney has also agreed to provide its managers and supervisors at Florida hotels with training "on what constitutes compensable work time and the need to accurately record all such time."

Violations like those found at Disney are not uncommon, Daniel White, district director for the department’s wage and hour division in Jacksonville, said in a Friday statement.

“Employers cannot make deductions that take workers below the minimum wage and must accurately track and pay for all the hours their employees work, including any time they work before or after their scheduled shifts," White said. "We hope the resolution of this case alerts other employers who may be paying employees in a similar manner, so that they too can correct their practices and operate in compliance with the law.”

The department said that “Disney resorts were very cooperative throughout the investigative process and worked with the division to ensure employees received the pay they earned.”

The department would not elaborate on what sparked its investigation into Disney's pay practices.

No further information is available at this time.

Photo by Candace Lindemann via Flickr used under Creative Commons