Lawsuit Claims New Jersey FedEx Package Handlers Owed Unpaid OT for Security Screenings

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A proposed class action claims FedEx Ground Package System, Inc. has failed to pay workers proper overtime wages for time spent undergoing mandatory security screenings.

According to the lawsuit, FedEx package handlers are required to go through security screenings before and after they clock in and out of their shifts. As the employees put in at least 40 hours of work per week, the lawsuit claims the time spent in security screenings should have been compensated at the workers’ time-and-a-half overtime rates.

The plaintiff says she worked as a package handler at one of FedEx’s New Jersey distribution centers until the winter of 2019. During her employment, the plaintiff and other hourly workers were required to undergo security screenings before clocking in for their shifts and after clocking out, the complaint states. Despite spending extra time under the defendant’s control, the workers were only paid for the hours recorded in FedEx’s timekeeping system, the suit claims.

The case contends that FedEx was well aware that its pay practices violated New Jersey state law and willfully chose not to pay the plaintiff and other workers for their off-the-clock work.

“Defendant’s conduct in failing to pay Named Plaintiffs and Collective Plaintiffs properly was and is not an inadvertent error made in and good faith, and Defendant had no reasonable grounds for believing that the conduct was not a violation of [state law],” the complaint says.

The plaintiff looks to represent current and former package handlers and/or non-exempt hourly employees who worked in one of FedEx’s New Jersey distribution centers during the applicable statute of limitations period and were subject to the wage and hour policies described in the case.

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