(The Center Square) – The Seattle Office of Labor Standards has reached a settlement with the grocery store chain Trader Joe’s, with $55,000 being distributed to 95 Seattle-based employees.
The office alleged that Trader Joe’s did not include hazard pay when determining an employee’s regular rate of pay for the purposes of overtime between Feb. 3, 2021, and Sept. 2, 2022. Instead, it alleged that Trader Joe’s employees were paid one and one-half times the base rate of pay in addition to a $4 hazard pay per each overtime hour worked.
That is an infraction of Seattle’s Grocery Employee Hazard Pay Ordinance that went into effect on Feb. 3, 2021. It was made to give front-line workers at grocery stores that employ more than 500 people worldwide financial relief during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, covered employers are no longer required to pay the increased hazard pay as of Sept. 2, 2022, following a city council vote to suspend the requirement for certain grocery businesses in the city to provide $4 per hour to their employees.
Earlier this year, the Office of Labor Standards had alleged labor standards violations by Trader Joe’s at its location in the University District. The company agreed to a settlement under the Secure Scheduling Ordinance and paid $44,528 to 129 employees and $575 to the City of Seattle to resolve claims for civil penalties and fines under the ordinance.
“For a second time the [Office of Labor Standards] has stepped up and helped us find the solutions to the wrongs Trader Joe’s has made toward schedule ordinances and wage theft of mandated hazard pay,” two current Trader Joe’s employees said in a statement.
Last week, the Office of Labor Standards announced it had reached a settlement with the restaurant chain Red Robin over alleged wage theft of 343 former and current employees. The company settled the allegations and agreed to pay a total financial remedy of $401,987 to the former and current employees and $250 to the City of Seattle.
