Cracking down on wage theft, Illinois' top legal watchdog, Attorney General Kwame Raoul, has clinched a $3 million deal with the Elk Grove Village-based Greenridge Farm Inc. The meat processing company has been ordered to pony up back wages and damages after a lawsuit alleged it had been shortchanging its workforce over overtime pay. The settlement benefited over 280 current and former employees, who finally saw justice after years of being underpaid for their extra hours on the job.
The scheme Greenridge ran between 2015 and 2022 was simple but sly: issue regular paychecks for the standard 40-hour workweek and then slip off-the-books cash for any overtime, cleverly bypassing the mandated higher overtime rates. A joint investigation by Raoul's office and the United States Department of Labor blew the lid off this practice, revealing seven years of unpaid overtime wages. Tom Gauza, the U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour District Director emphasized the significance of this win for the workers, many of whom were likely unaware of their rights to overtime pay, according to an official statement.
Under both Illinois and federal law, companies are required to pay an overtime premium of 150% of an employee's regular hourly wages for any time worked over 40 hours a week. The fines for such a violation are steep; the Attorney General’s office can hit offenders with triple damages, while the U.S. Department of Labor can seek double – both in addition to the original unpaid wages. Christine Heri, Regional Solicitor of Labor for the U.S. Department of Labor in Chicago, vowed to keep using "all available tools" to punish businesses that dip into their employees' pockets.
The settlement means each affected employee at Greenridge could pocket nearly two and a half times their originally owed wages, with some stretching back more than seven years. Impacted workers will get a knock on their door from the Attorney General's Office with information on how to claim what they're due. Furthermore, Greenridge is required to get its house in order; they'll now have to use a third-party timekeeping system and submit to three years of monitoring, pledging better behavior going forward.
Deli meats and fair wages should go hand in hand, and thanks to Attorney General Raoul’s efforts, affected Greenridge employees will have a little extra in their holiday stockings this year. Any employee – past or present – with a bone to pick over wage issues can reach out to the Attorney General’s Workplace Rights Hotline or file a complaint via the website.
