June 21, 2013
By Neal Tepel
TAMPA, Fla. – The U.S. Department of Labor is overseeing the award of a $603,237 settlement to current and retired employees of the State Prison Facility in Raiford after finding that more than 700 corrections officers were not being properly compensated.
The settlement was in response to a complaint filed by the Teamsters Union in the fall of 2011 over wage and hour rules being violated by the Florida Department of Corrections (FDOC), triggering an extensive investigation.
“When we began our statewide organizing campaign, we committed to the correctional officers that we would provide more effective workplace representation,” said Ken Wood, a Teamsters International Vice President and President of Teamsters Joint Council 75 in Tampa “While this case took over a year and a half to resolve because of the impact on many officers, I am pleased that our members will be made whole.”
Both current and retired officers assigned to the State Prison Facility in Raiford will be receiving monetary payments or compensatory time off for overtime worked between December 2009 and December 2011. The Labor Department is working to ensure that FDOC complies with the terms of the settlement.
“The settlement is a great benefit for correctional officers and recognizes the fact that preparing for duty after entering the facility is an essential part of the job,” said Teamsters Public Services Director Michael Filler. “This problem should not continue as the department has updated its timekeeping system to ensure that officers will be paid for all compensable time worked.”
