Skip to content
Business
Link copied to clipboard

Yo Progressive Business employees: Labor Dept. says you may be owed part of $1.9 million

Those eligible to recoup back wages worked at Progressive Business Publications call centers between Aug. 9, 2009 and Jan. 3, 2016.

U.S. Labor Department says former employees at Progressive Business Publications could be eligible for $1.9 million from . (Dreamstime/TNS)
U.S. Labor Department says former employees at Progressive Business Publications could be eligible for $1.9 million from . (Dreamstime/TNS)Read moreDreamstime / MCT

A Malvern telemarketing firm docked pay for thousands of employees for restroom breaks, trips to the water fountain or snacks.

And now those individuals, more than 8,000 in 18 call centers in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Ohio, will split $1.9 million in back wages and damages, the Labor Department’s Philadelphia office said Wednesday.

Those eligible to recoup back wages worked at Progressive Business Publications call centers between Aug. 9, 2009 and Jan. 3, 2016.

Current and former employees can learn what they may be owed through a Labor Department web site, calling 267-514-6072 or emailing whdvm.philadelphiapadopgr@dol.gov.

An attorney for Progressive Business Publications did not return a phone call on Wednesday afternoon. The telemarketing firm’s parent company is American Future Systems.

The Labor Department sued Progressive Business Publications and its chief executive Edward Sitell in Philadelphia federal court in November 2012, claiming wage violations. By not compensating employees for break times, their wages at times fell below federal minimum wages, the government said.

The firm publishes subscription-based business-to-business newsletters and other publications.