Federal Fair Labor Complaint Filed Against Randstad Staffing

ROYAL OAK, Mich., April 8, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Four employees of Randstad Staffing who have offices in Michigan, have filed a complaint in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan Southern Division alleging the multinational corporation regularly and willfully misclassifies workers in order to avoid paying overtime.

According to the complaint, Randstad would classify employees as managers, supervisors or executives, then require them to work in excess of 50 to 60 hours a week. With such classifications, under federal labor laws, such employees are not due overtime compensation.

According to the complaint, the plaintiffs' job titles are essentially meaningless. Hundreds, possibly thousands of employees are doing the same function, working the same overtime hours, and not being compensated according to what the law requires. Dib and Fagan of Royal Oak are working with Florida law firm Kelley/Uustal on the lawsuit. "It's our view that these job descriptions are all basically the same," said Jordan Lewis, senior litigator with Kelley/Uustal.

The complaint, filed in U.S. District Court seeks to be recognized as a Collective Action. This will allow the plaintiffs' attorneys to invite thousands of others who believe they may have been similarly treated to opt-in to the lawsuit.

"It would be small surprise if this sounds familiar to others who've worked for the company. If people feel these allegations are correct and apply to them, then they should contact us," said co-counsel attorney Barry Fagan.

The four plaintiffs each held various job titles being challenged in the lawsuit, including talent acquisition specialist, account manager or senior account manager, or senior staffing consultant. They claim that Randstad labels employees with such titles, and the employees nonetheless perform essentially the same function recruiting for Randstad corporate customers.

All the jobs are highly regulated and conscripted. Employees must meet Randstad's detailed matrix of minute job activities on a weekly basis to get paid their full salary, and they must maintain a 100-point average of metrics per week to keep their jobs, according to the complaint. Employees "clock in" by logging into the company's internal website, which provides Randstad a detailed, to-the-minute record of the hours worked. Employees typically work between 50 and 60 hours weekly.

"These workers don't seem to us to have the independence and discretion that a manager or an executive typically has. Their job duties are carefully scripted and regulated by Randstad," said Lewis.

The plaintiffs seek to recover overtime based on a time-and-a-half calculation earned, beginning three years before the commencement of the lawsuit.

SOURCE Dib and Fagan