Nevada Gold Mine Faces Accusations of Employee Pay Violations
A lawsuit filed against Nevada Gold Mines by two employees, Kyle Wieben and Austin Stockstill, in the U.S. District Court of Nevada alleges that the mine has not been paying its employees properly for all the time worked, including overtime. The lawsuit claims that employees are not compensated for the shuttle ride to the mine from the parking lot, which takes one hour and 20 minutes each way. The company considers this travel time as off the clock and unpaid.
Furthermore, tasks such as putting on and taking off protective gear, gathering equipment, attending meetings, and wash up before and after shifts are also not compensated, even though they are essential job duties taking up around 15 to 45 minutes each day.
Inside the mine, employees are allegedly not allowed meal breaks or rest periods and are required to work throughout their entire shifts. The lawsuit mentions that workers are typically on call for 48 to 60 hours per week, working 12-hour shifts without receiving overtime pay.
The lawsuit also highlights that terminated employees have not received all earned wages, which is a violation of Nevada law. NGM, identified as the largest gold-producing complex globally, is the subject of this legal action.
The plaintiffs are seeking unpaid wages, including overtime wages, liquidated damages, statutory damages, and any other available penalties. The lawsuit accuses NGM of operating under a shift rate pay scheme. Plaintiffs claim they were not allowed to record their actual hours worked and were paid only for pre-scheduled hours.
NGM has not released a public statement regarding the lawsuit so far. For further inquiries, you can contact Emerson Drewes via email at edrewes@reviewjournal.com or follow @EmersonDrewes on social media.
