PITTSBURGH — Shale gas wellpad workers have settled their overtime pay class action lawsuit against ROC Service Company LLC in Pennsylvania federal court. The $1.25 million settlement has received tentative approval from the federal judge and is intended to resolve the wellpad workers’ claims of Pennsylvania labor law and Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) violations. Over 130 employees are likely to benefit from the settlement which will provide back wages for alleged unpaid overtime wages. The class members and ROC must await the ruling at the fairness hearing before the settlement will become final, but the settlement is expected to receive final approval.
Shale Gas Claims
Aaron Sapp and Kipp Smiley filed their lawsuit in late 2014 against ROC, which provides support services to oil and gas companies. Allegedly wellpad workers regularly worked more than 84 hours a week, considerably more than the 40-hour workweek under state and federal law. However, they allegedly only received compensation for 40 hours each workweek. ROC allegedly used a blanket policy of classifying all wellpad workers as exempt from overtime under both state and federal wage laws. In their claim, the wellpad workers claimed the work they performed on the oilfield, both manual labor and technical work, was non-exempt and they were entitled to compensation for the considerable overtime hours they worked.
Accounting For Unpaid Overtime
Most overtime pay lawsuits allege violations which occurred over many months if not many years. Accounting for all of the unpaid overtime hours can be problematic for both employers and employees if the violations were the result of both misclassification and improper record keeping. The violations in this case allegedly occurred between January 2012 and March 2015. However, calculating the number of overtime hours the employees worked and for which they were not fully compensated is significantly easier than in most lawsuits because ROC actually has at least a partial record of the wellpad workers’ hours worked. Being able to calculate and account for most, if not all, hours worked by the class members contributed to a faster negotiation process and a more objectively fair settlement. The settlement awards will be paid only to those class members who submit a valid claim form in a timely manner.
There are many professions and employment opportunities which require more than 40 hours of work in a workweek. And most of those opportunities are subject to minimum wage and overtime pay laws. If you believe your employer is not compensating you for all of the hours you work, you may have an overtime pay claim. Our knowledgeable team of overtime pay lawyers can be reached at (855) 754-2795. Or you may complete our Free Unpaid Overtime Case Review form and our experienced legal team will evaluate your claim. If we accept your case, we will represent you under our No Fee Promise. This means there are no legal fees or costs unless you receive a settlement.