You’re a mean one, Mr. UPS.
A lawsuit filed by Attorney General Letitia James on Monday alleges that the delivery giant for years chiseled seasonal workers in New York by manipulating its timekeeping systems. The practices cheated thousands of temporary employees who manage the annual surge of packages out of millions in wages, according to the lawsuit.
The AG’s office alleges the company deliberately failed to record all the hours its employees worked, which meant there was “widespread off-the-clock labor.”
“UPS has played the Grinch,” said James. “These are workers who carry us through the holidays, who help keep our economy moving, and who have been denied millions in wages they rightfully earned.”
James is asking the court to order UPS to reimburse current and former seasonal staff for wages they’re owed, as well as fines for violating the law.
“They were working long hours in the busiest months of the year, yet their paychecks did not reflect the time they spend on the job,” the AG added. “UPS delayed clock-ins, auto-deducted lunch breaks that workers never took, edited time sheets after the fact, avoided paying overtime that was clearly owed.”
James also alleged UPS workers frequently go unpaid while “watching required training videos, returning undelivered packages and handing in equipment at the end of their jobs” and that the company “delayed clock-ins until a worker scanned or delivered the first package, even when workers had already been working or waiting on-site.”
James began investigating UPS’s treatment of seasonal workers in New York after Teamsters Local 804 raised concerns from its members in 2023. The investigation found that the company’s wage violations weren’t isolated incidents, but rather a widespread practice in its New York facilities, according to the AG’s office.
“UPS takes all accusations of wrongdoing seriously and denies the unfounded allegation of intentionally underpaying UPS employees,” UPS spokesperson Natasha Amadi wrote in a statement. “We offer industry-leading pay and benefits to our more than 26,000 employees in New York, and we remain committed to following all applicable laws.”
Package delivery companies like UPS hire thousands of temporary workers every year, often during the especially busy months between October and January, to manage the country’s ever-growing demand for online purchases.
Violations weren’t isolated incidents, but rather a widespread practice in its New York facilities.
James argued that the systematic undercounting of worker hours is a violation of New York Labor Law, including the state’s required minimum wage, overtime pay and recordkeeping rules.
UPS brought in around $91 billion in revenue last year and employs nearly 500,000 people worldwide. It bills itself as the largest package delivery and courier service on the planet.
