Aerosol Company To Pay Nearly $1 Million In Min. Wage Violations

WORCESTER, MA—A Dudley aerosol factory and two of its executives have agreed to pay nearly $1 million to resolve intentional overtime and minimum wage violations and for hindering the AG’s investigation, Attorney General Maura Healey announced on Wednesday.

Approximately 480 affected workers will receive restitution, some of it in double damages.

“This action resolves allegations that this employer robbed low-wage workers of money that they had earned, while at the same time gaining an unfair advantage over honest businesses,” said AG Healey in a statement. “Companies can’t cheat their workers and I am glad that through this settlement, hundreds of workers will now get paid the wages they are owed.”

The company, Shield Packaging, Inc., sells custom aerosol packaging products and workers primarily fill, label and package aerosol containers on assembly lines, said the announcement. The AG’s Office alleges that the company used staffing agencies to pay its workers in an attempt to protect itself from liability.

In a state settlement agreement with the AG’s Office, Shield Packaging, its president George P. Bates and plant manager A. Bruce Simpson have agreed to pay more than $564,000 for alleged violations of state laws including failure to pay minimum wage, hindrance, and paystub violations.

In a related federal settlement with USDOL, the employer has agreed to pay more than $210,000 in back wages and an equal amount (another more than $210,000) in liquidated damages to workers for alleged violations of federal overtime law.

The investigation revealed that between August 2014 and October 2016, temporary workers at Shield Packaging were paid at an hourly rate below the state minimum wage, said the AG's announcement. They were also not paid proper overtime premiums because those are based on the underlying rate, which was below minimum wage. Overtime was not paid to compensate employees for time spent putting on and taking off safety equipment as required by federal law.

Additionally, the AG’s Office determined that two employees were allegedly instructed to misrepresent and obscure facts to the AG’s investigators during a site inspection.

The AG’s settlement requires that Shield Packaging strengthen their recordkeeping practices, as well as strictly monitor the payroll practices of any staffing agency that they work with.

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