Airport shuttle drivers ruled to be employees, not contractors

VLF Fellow David Ta discusses a recent worker’s right case:

“The recent [$212,000] decision by the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement asserts that American Airporter drivers were, and should be classified as, employees. The company was ordered to pay more than $212,000 in citations for unpaid minimum wages, overtime and meal break premiums to the six drivers in the case.

‘Before the drivers could even start making the money they needed to support their families, they struggled to make enough money to pay the hundreds of dollars in van expenses and airport fees they incurred each month just to work,” said David Ta, an attorney at the Asian Law Caucus. “To stay afloat, the drivers were working 10- to 15-hour days, six to seven days a week, without the required breaks or proper pay.'”

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