Break failures: Global security provider to pay nearly $1.1M in back wages, damages to 778 workers after wrongly deducting meal breaks not taken

Summary:

A federal investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division has led to the recovery of nearly $1.1 million in back wages and liquidated damages for 778 employees of Universal Protection Service LP (Allied Universal Security Services). The investigation found that the company violated Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) overtime and recordkeeping provisions by deducting 45 minutes from employees' workdays without fully accounting for meal breaks. The company, which had previously failed to make proper adjustments to employees' hours for working during meal breaks, will be assessed $50,000 in civil money penalties. This is the latest in a series of investigations by the Wage and Hour Division into the company's practices, with over 200 investigations conducted nationwide in the past five years.