Toyota is offering about 1,000 current and former paint shop employees $4.5 million in back pay in an attempt to settle a dispute over whether the workers at its Georgetown plant should be paid for the time it takes to put on protective suits and walk to their assembly-line jobs.
The payout works out to about $1,000 for a full year of work up to five years, according to a statement released yesterday by Toyota Motor Manufacturing Kentucky Inc. Retroactive contributions would also be made to employees' 401(k) retirement and pension funds.
The affected employees have until the middle of March to decide whether to accept the offer, TMMK spokeswoman Nan Banks said.
The company is also altering its procedures so paint employees can put on their protective suits closer to their work stations to cut "walk time."
Walk-time estimates vary, but Toyota's statement yesterday said the longest time an employee had to walk from the locker room to their work place in the painting area was eight minutes. That's how much time for which each employee would be compensated in yesterday's offer.
The move comes three months after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a similar case involving meat-processing workers that employees should be paid for any time it takes to put on or take off equipment required to do their jobs.
A Kentucky Department of Labor investigation into the Toyota matter has remained open since 2003, when Toyota employees filed a complaint. The investigation was delayed while all sides waited for the court's ruling.
Chris Smith, the labor department's Office of Workplace Standards executive director, said yesterday the investigation remains open, but its outcome will depend on whether employees accept the company's offer.
A rejection could lead to a labor department hearing, but Smith declined to discuss specifics, citing department policy.
Smith would not say whether Toyota officials discussed their offer to employees with the labor department beforehand. "I would be undermining Toyota's proposal to their folks, so I can't really comment on it," Smith said.
It was unclear yesterday what paint shop employees thought of their company's offer. Those contacted by the Herald-Leader declined to discuss the matter on the record.
"We think it's a very reasonable offer," Banks said, "and we sincerely hope people will take it."
Beginning Feb. 27, the paint shop's design will be altered so workers will put on their protective coveralls over their clothes at the line rather than in a change room. That will eliminate the time needed to walk from a changing area to their work areas, Banks said.
Shift start times will also be staggered for paint shop employees so they will have the time to put on their suits during an eight-hour shift, Banks said.
Copyright 2006, The Lexington Herald-Leader, Ky.
Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.
|
