Collective Action Claims FedEx Owes Unpaid Overtime After Misclassifying Human Resource Workers

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FedEx Ground Package System, Inc. faces a proposed collective action that claims the carrier misclassified human resource business partners as overtime-exempt and failed to pay the workers time-and-a-half wages for hours worked in excess of 40 per week.  

The case out of Arkansas contends that the defendant’s classification of human resource business partners was improper given that the workers had no hiring or firing authority, did not have to utilize professional education relevant to their job duties, and were not paid above $100,000 per year. The plaintiff, who worked as a salaried human resource business partner from February 2013 through August 2018, further argues he was misclassified in that he had “no authority in his role,” was closely observed at work, and had no responsibilities related to financial and wage decisions, company policies, or management over an enterprise subdivision.

The lawsuit claims that since the human resource business partners’ job roles did not fit the mold of an overtime-exempt employee as defined by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), the workers should have been classified as non-exempt and paid time-and-a-half wages for hours worked past 40 each week. According to the complaint, the plaintiff worked more than 40 hours nearly every week he was employed for FedEx.

The lawsuit looks to represent anyone who worked as a human resource business partner for FedEx within three years of the suit’s filing and was improperly classified as exempt from the payment of time-and-a-half overtime.