The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered $230,000 for 545 workers at a Hastings meat processing plant who were denied compensation for pre- and post-shift work such as donning and removing protective gear and equipment cleaning time.
An investigation by the department’s Wage and Hour Division found that Noah’s Ark Processors LLC paid workers when they and their co-workers started task work on a “gang shift” in various plant areas such as the kill, offal, fabrication and kosher floors. This practice denied workers' pay for several minutes a day spent doing pre- and post-shift work in the plant. The violations occurred from at least Sept. 6, 2021, through Feb. 4, 2023.