Company Exploits Workers, Says Ex-Employee

San Mateo, CAPaul is only 19 years old, but he's smart enough to know that his employer exploited him and violated California labor law. "We spend about 12 hours on the job and usually get four hours of pay," says Paul. "That isn't right."


Paul works for United Plus, a non-emergency transportation company offering wheelchair and gurney transport for patients being discharged from area hospitals. Paul's job is to drive patients to and from hospital and doctor's appointments, but he spends most of his time waiting for a call at the company's office. "We perform all kinds of work, from cleaning and parking vehicles to organizing office paper work while we wait for a call," says Paul.

"This start-up company is very unprofessional and unorganized. There has been no contract—the only paperwork I filled out was the I-9 form (which proves you are an American citizen) and the W-2 wage and tax form. When my boss hired me one month ago, he said I would make $10 per hour and I would be on call 24/7. He didn't say that I would only get paid for a few hours per day.

"It's not just me. When I started, there were four employees and now there are 15—and my boss is exploiting all of us. We all want to become firefighters and we're here to get training, but we are supposed to get paid. We are going to school during the day and coming to the United Plus office after class, only to sit around for hours on end and hope for a call to come in, but we only get paid when we get a call.

"The boss sends people out on a call depending on who he likes the most on any given day. I was high up on the list but I made a mistake because I wasn't trained properly. I parked a United Plus van in an ambulance parking spot, thinking that was okay; my trainer never told me not to park there. The boss almost fired me for that. Instead I was demoted to the bottom rung.

"The boss knows this job is a stepping stone for us to become firefighters and he thinks that he can get away with exploiting us. I thought this job was a way to get my foot in the door. I figured that I could get experience driving a basic life support rig and that would lead me to a job with AMR (American Medical Response) so I can drive an ambulance. I've learned to drive a big van with gurneys, but that's about it. Anyway, this job isn't mandatory to become a firefighter—I'm going to school for that.

"I'm willing to talk about this company now because I got my old job back as a barista at Starbucks. I also posted my complaint on the California labor board website. An attorney from LawyersandSettlements called a few days ago and referred me to a labor law firm in my area. I talked to a paralegal and have a meeting with the attorney next week.

"My main complaint is not getting paid but I'm also concerned about my co-workers' liability. We didn't receive proper training at work and I'm worried that someone will drop a patient and be completely liable. I was told that the company has insurance for drivers 23 years of age and over, but 75 percent of their employees are under the age of 23. I'm 19! As far as I know, if we screw up on the job, we are liable. Doctors buy insurance and ambulance companies have insurance on their employees, but we don't have any. I know most of my co-workers from school and I don't want them to get into trouble—they could lose their license if they hurt a patient. The company should be liable, not us."