The Seattle Office of Labor Standards (OLS) recently announced the largest settlement in its history with Leadpoint Business Services (Leadpoint), an Arizona-based staffing company that provided workers for two waste recycling facilities in Seattle. According to OLS, the settlement calls for Leadpoint to pay a total of $686,202 in backpay, interest, and liquidated damages to 358 current and former workers who were unlawfully paid at the small employer minimum wage rate instead of at the higher larger employer rate.
“Leadpoint is committed to treating its employees with respect and consistent with our obligations under the law. Leadpoint appreciates the City working with us to find a way to resolve the City’s concerns promptly and to the benefit of Leadpoint employees,” said a spokesperson for Leadpoint.
“This settlement speaks volumes about the importance of workers understanding their rights and having the courage to come forward, and about the importance of company-wide investigations,” said Rebecca Smith, National Employment Law Project Director of Work Structures. “Workers are speaking up and OLS is responding. It’s making great strides enforcing Seattle’s labor laws and holding businesses committing violations accountable for the full extent of their wrongdoing.”
Since early in Mayor Durkan’s term in office, the effectiveness of OLS enforcement, as measured by the amount of assessments to workers due to labor standard violations, has increased dramatically. In 2018, OLS assessed a total of $2,130,619, which was almost twice as much as assessed in the prior three years. During only the first seven months of 2019, OLS assessed over $2,158,000, or more than assessed in all of 2018.
“We have made headway in removing cases from the backlog, streamlining our enforcement process, while at the same time not sacrificing effectiveness. It is quite an accomplishment that was achieved through the diligent work of the investigators on our enforcement team,” said OLS Director Martin Garfinkel.
