This week, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued a notice in hopes of locating former employees of a national auto parts distributor and its delivery company who are owed millions of dollars.
On July 11, 2023, the DOL issued a public statement aimed at helping them locate more than 1,300 drivers who worked for Parts Authority Arizona LLC and Arizona Logistics Inc. – operating as Diligent Delivery Systems.
Feds say that in November 2022, the DOL obtained a judgement in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona requiring the companies to pay $5.6 million in back wages and damages because workers were misclassified as independent contractors.
The company is accused of violating Fair Labor Standards Act 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.
As part of the investigation, DOL investigators determined that drivers were required to use their personal vehicles to make deliveries and were not paid for that use.
The DOL is asking 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 Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
“Workers are strongly encouraged to act quickly,” the DOL said.
“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 in Phoenix. “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.”
