A U.S. District Judge has certified a class of pizza delivery drivers under the Fair Labor Standards Act. Drivers employed at 1,135 Pizza Hut stores in 28 states employed within 3 years of March 28, 2011 are eligible plaintiffs, which brings the number of potential class members to somewhere between 20,000 and 30,000 drivers.
Drivers for NPC International, Pizza Hut’s biggest franchisee, allege that although NPC managers and executives were paid the standard IRS mileage reimbursement of 51 cents a mile, the drivers themselves were underpaid at a rate far below federal and state minimum wages.
NPC isn’t the first franchisee to have allegedly violated the Fair Labor Standards Act. Other franchise operations such as Papa John’s have also faced similar allegations.
Of course, NPC denies these claims, saying that the drivers are not considering tips into their calculation of total compensation. NPC goes on to say that the drivers never informed NPC of reimbursement or wage issues while they were employed. We shall see.
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