Poultry catching companies to pay $353K in wage theft

Two poultry catching companies, Native Poultry LLC and Poultry Labor Solutions Inc., were required to pay $353,141 in back wages to 322 employees for unpaid overtime, according to the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL).

BCFC | Bigstockphoto.com
BCFC | Bigstockphoto.com

Two poultry catching companies, Native Poultry LLC and Poultry Labor Solutions Inc., were required to pay $353,141 in back wages to 322 employees for unpaid overtime, according to the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL)

“Employers like Native Poultry and Poultry Labor Solutions have a legal obligation to make sure their employees – people who help put food on our tables – are paid their full earned wages,” said Juan Coria, regional administrator for the DOL.

How did they commit wage theft?

The DOL’s Wage and Hour Division determined that Native Poultry and Poultry Labor Solutions, which share ownership, violated the Fair Labor Standards Act by not paying overtime wages at the additional half-time premium and by only paying overtime for the weekend, disregarding weekday overtime. 

Who are Native Poultry and Poultry Labor Solutions?

Native Poultry and Poultry Labor Solutions, based in Alabama and North Carolina respectively, process poultry for Wayne Farms LLC and Case Farms LLC. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the annual mean wage for poultry processing employees – like catchers, loaders, and leads – is from $25,930 in Alabama to $31,640 in North Carolina. 

“The workers in these cases handle an important step in food operations that is not mechanized, and their labor is essential to the industry,” said Coria. “More than 100 birds can be processed by hand every 30 minutes so the teams employed there can face difficult conditions.”

Wage theft in the U.S.

Wage theft is the largest form of theft in the U.S. with an estimated $15 billion of wages stolen by employers each year, according to CBS News. The DOL’s Wage and Hour Division reported more than $5.8 million of wage theft in the agriculture sector in 2022, alongside sectors like retail at over $7.4 million and health care at over $32.5 million. 

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