After an investigation of two Mississippi A&B Foods and PH Food poultry processing plants, the U.S. Department of Labor has determined the company violated the Fair Labor Standards Act and has recovered $285,848 in back wages for 313 employees.
The Fair Labor Standards Act establishes minimum wage, overtime pay, recordkeeping, and youth employment standards affecting employees in the private sector and in federal, state and local governments. The two facilities, which process poultry for other name brands, violated multiple sections of the act, including:
- Reducing average hourly pay below the federal minimum wage
- Failing to pay the correct overtime rate
- Not including bonuses into the rate of pay when calculating overtime rates
- Instructing some workers to refrain from clocking in
- Failing to maintain records of hours worked
“Families across the country depend on food industry workers to put meals on their tables, and these workers deserve to be paid all of their rightful wages. Unfortunately, the people affected by the violations in this case work in an industry where wages are low and violations are all too common,” said Wage and Hour Division District Office Director Audrey Hall in Jackson, Mississippi. The U.S. Department of Labor is committed to protecting their rights and ensuring that they receive all of the hard-earned wages they rely on to make ends meet.”
The department is still looking for 40 employees who are owed back wages and are encouraging potential recipients to use its search tool or call 866.487.9243.
2019 ICE raids
This is not the first time Mississippi poultry plants have made headlines. In August 2019, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested 680 people from agrifood plants in Mississippi – the largest single state immigration enforcement operation in the U.S.
