AFGE Council 228, Representing All AFGE SBA Locals, Begins Claims Process for Distribution of $7.6 million Settlement of Nationwide Class Union Grievance against the US Small Business Administration.
Washington, DC. The Law Offices of Snider & Associates, LLC announced today that a claims process has begun for an estimated 1,800 active, retired, deceased and separated employees at the US Small Business Administration. The claims process is designed to determine who has an overtime claim, in order for Federal Union AFGE Council 228, headed by Elaine Powell-Belnavis of New York City, to distribute part of a $7.6 million settlement regarding overtime exemptions and pay under the Fair Labor Standards Act.
Under the settlement, SBA agreed to pay $7,600,000 to resolve claims by the Union on behalf of current and former SBA employees who were not compensated properly under the Fair Labor Standards Act.
“The Union and SBA management worked together to resolve this matter,” said Michael J. Snider, Esq. of Snider & Associates LLC., Lead Counsel for AFGE Council 228, adding that “this settlement will ensure that the Agency will comply with the regulations under the FLSA and will protect both current and future SBA employees.” The Union and SBA had engaged in two years of wrangling over procedural matters and had scheduled a dozen days of hearings before agreeing to sit down and mediate a resolution of the case.
The class action Grievance and Arbitration, alleged that hundreds of employees were misclassified as exempt under the FLSA, were denied a choice of compensatory time off (“comp time”), and/or not properly compensated for travel time and “off the clock” work, known as suffer or permit overtime. The Grievance also alleged damages on behalf of already FLSA non-exempt employees for comp time and suffer or permit violations.