An 84-year-old law prevents truck drivers from getting overtime pay

Apr 22, 2022 at 10:02 AM CST
Truck driver Dominic Oliveira’s last paycheck from Prime Inc., the 15th-largest trucking company in the U.S., was $712. Oliveira needed that money during his job change to a new trucking company. But he said Prime refused to pay up, so he got lawyers involved to see if he could secure the cash. The Massachusetts native soon encountered a batch of decades-old labor laws that treat truck drivers differently than other workers. Unlike most workers, truck drivers are excluded from laws that require employers to pay them minimum wage or overtime. (Prime did not provide a statement concerning Oliveira’s claims, which formed the basis of a lawsuit that eventually went to the US Supreme Court. The court ruled unanimously in Oliveira’s favor.)

Apr 22, 2022 at 10:02 AM CST

Truck driver Dominic Oliveira’s last paycheck from Prime Inc., the 15th-largest trucking company in the U.S., was $712. Oliveira needed that money during his job change to a new trucking company. But he said Prime refused to pay up, so he got lawyers involved to see if he could secure the cash. The Massachusetts native soon encountered a batch of decades-old labor laws that treat truck drivers differently than other workers. Unlike most workers, truck drivers are excluded from laws that require employers to pay them minimum wage or overtime. (Prime did not provide a statement concerning Oliveira’s claims, which formed the basis of a lawsuit that eventually went to the US Supreme Court. The court ruled unanimously in Oliveira’s favor.)