Happy Labor Day! The tow industry is filled with dedicated and hard working people. Workers who show up to work battling weather, road hazards and other adverse conditions day in, day out. We hope everyone gets some down time this weekend and has a relaxing and safe holiday with family and friends. -TowLawyer
In last week’s blog, I described I case I had involving a night dispatcher who complained about minimum and overtime wage violations. In that situation, the tow company thought they didn’t have to pay either minimum or overtime wages because he paid the dispatcher a salary of $300.00. But just paying a salary, without more, does not make the employee exempt from minimum and overtimes wages.
My first wage and hour case in the tow industry didn’t even involve tow operators. It involved a disgruntled night dispatcher who was being paid $300.00 per week to answer the phones from 7:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m., seven (7) days a week. She was permitted to take all of the calls on her cell phone, meaning for large portions of the night when the phone wasn’t ringing, she slept at home.
Liens are always a hot topic in the tow community. When properly asserted, they can be a powerful collecting tool. However, like anything, done incorrectly, they expose a tow company to potential liability.
