Houston, TX: An unpaid wages and overtime class action lawsuit has been filed against Reliable Reports by Mathew Harris on behalf of himself and past and present employees of the company, who worked as Field Reporting Specialists or Field Reps.
Specifically, the lawsuit claims that the while working as Field Reps, the plaintiffs telecommuted and traveled hundreds of miles per week to visit, inspect, take pictures of and report on the condition of residential and commercial properties for Reliable' insurance industry clients. For each of these visits the Field Reps receive a flat rate of pay that averages from $4.80 to $8.00 per property. Other than a modest reimbursement for mileage and lodging along with a few fringe benefits, Field Reps receive no other compensation for their long, grueling days of driving, performing property investigations and filling out reports.
In a typical work week, each Field Rep is assigned from between 45 and 100 properties to inspect. At $6.00 per hour, it might be possible to earn the federally mandated minimum wage of $290 per week, accept that the properties are often located between 10 and 30 miles apart, and are frequently in urban areas where traffic and other unexpected delays are prevalent. Reliable also refuses to pay for the 30 to 60 minutes, and 30 to 60 miles of drive time that employees incur at the beginning and end of each shift, travelling from their homes to their first appointment, and from their last appointment back to their homes. These unpaid hours and overtime add up to thousands of dollars per class member.
The lawsuit also contends that Field Reps such as the plaintiff work nights and weekends to complete their inspections and reports with the stipulated times frames required by Reliable; put hundreds of miles of wear and tear on their personal vehicles; complete multiple overnight trips per month; perform massive amounts of unpaid off-the-clock work and overtime; and bear the entire cost of a variety of mandatory job-related expenses including a home office, cell phone, and cellular service, a GPS unit, digital camera, an internet connection, a dedicated computer, printer and supplies.
Further, the lawsuit claims that while Reliable promises to pay its Field Reps a mileage reimbursement of $0.555 per mile, it does not allow its employees to record their actual mileage or the miles spent commuting, and by unilaterally imposing a "mileage cap"of 30% of each employees pay for a given period, Reliable has breached its agreements with Class members and shifted a substantial portion of its operating expenses to employees like the plaintiffs. Multiplied over a class of 500 to 1000 people, forth fullest period of time allowed by law, the damaged amount to millions of dollars per year.
