Charlotte transit contractor pays $22K in back wages after violating family leave law

A contractor for the Charlotte Area Transit System has reinstated and paid an employee nearly $22,000 in back wages for violating a federal law, the U.S. Department of Labor said Monday.

Investigators with the department’s Wage and Hour Division found that Transit Management of Charlotte Inc., which CATS says is a contractor that supplies bus drivers, wrongly assessed disciplinary “attendance points” against the employee for missing work.

The employee was terminated for excessive absences when enough points had accumulated, the Department of Labor said in a news release Monday that did not name the employee. The department said the missed work time should have been allowed under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act.

To resolve the violation, the department said, the worker was paid $21,998 in back wages and restored the employee’s medical benefits. CATS referred a request for comment to Transit Management of Charlotte, which it said employs the worker.

“The Family and Medical Leave Act provides employees with critical workplace flexibility, protecting their jobs when they, or an eligible family member, need care for a serious health condition,” Wage and Hour Division district director Richard Blaylock of Raleigh said in a statement. “The U.S. Department of Labor is committed to protecting employees’ FMLA rights, and to helping employers understand their responsibilities.”

This story was originally published June 29, 2020 at 3:58 PM.