PHOENIX — The U.S. Department of Labor is looking for more than 1,300 delivery drivers of a national auto parts distributor and its delivery company who may be owed their share of more than $5.6 million in back wages and damages.
The division encourages people who worked while classified as independent contractors for Parts Authority and Diligent Delivery Systems in Arizona from April 2012 through March 2020 and who believe the employer may have denied them full wages to call (877) 465-4898 from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Central Daylight Time Monday through Friday, according to a news release, which notes that “workers are strongly encouraged to act quickly.”
In November 2022, the department obtained a consent judgment in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona that requires Parts Authority Arizona LLC and Arizona Logistics Inc. — operating as Diligent Delivery Systems — to pay the monies to the drivers who the employer misclassified as independent contractors, the news release notes.
An investigation by the department’s Wage and Hour Division determined the misclassification caused the employer to incur violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) for the following:
- Failing to meet minimum wage requirements.
- Paying straight-time rates for all hours worked.
- Not paying the time and one-half overtime rate for hours over 40 in a workweek.
- Failing to keep required timekeeping records.
- Investigators also found the company required employees to use their personal vehicles for deliveries and did not pay them when they did, another FLSA violation.
“We want to make sure that Parts Authority Arizona and Arizona Logistics workers receive all the wages and damages owed to them,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Eric Murray. “Workers may be difficult to locate when they change addresses or phone numbers, and they may not be aware they are owed back pay. The Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division and its Office of the Solicitor is working diligently to ensure the more than 1,300 underpaid employees of Parts Authority and Arizona Logistics get their shares of the $5.6 million that the agency recovered for them.”
Founded in 1973, Parts Authority is a national distributor of automotive replacement parts, tools, equipment and transmissions. Headquartered in Lake Success, New York, the company has more than 200 U.S. locations. Diligent Delivery Systems has national headquarters in Houston and 46 U.S. locations serving industries, including automotive, healthcare, retail and e-commerce, oil and gas and agriculture.
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