CHICAGO — Two Chicago region women of all ages are suing a staffing agency and one particular of its purchasers, saying they weren’t paid out adequately for time beyond regulation operate and had their wages lessened without having detect, amid other problems.
Patricia Martinez and Ana Diaz Rivas are suing Exceptional Staffing — which locations personnel in temporary production positions — and Fareva, a Morton Grove-based mostly organization exactly where they had been contracted to perform by Exceptional Staffing, the two explained at a Tuesday news meeting in Small Village.
Outstanding Staffing and Fareva didn’t instantly responds to requests for comment.
Martinez stated she labored at Fareva from December 2019 to June 2021, throughout which she experienced her shell out decreased from $13.50 to $12 without having good see less than the Illinois Working day and Non permanent Labor Services Act, according to the lawsuit. Diaz Rivas, who labored at Fareva from August 2020 to June 2021, observed her spend reduced from $13 to $12, in accordance to the lawsuit.
By reducing the women’s wages without having correct recognize, “Superior Staffing denied them selected facts relevant to their work which the Illinois Legislature has deemed essential to defending the rights of day or short term laborers,” according to the lawsuit.
Credit: Madison Savedra/Block Club ChicagoMartinez, speaking at the news conference, mentioned the reduction in her wages meant a reduction of cash for issues like gasoline so she could get to and from work.
“I instructed them I would not be capable to afford to pay for to get to work, and they informed me I had no ideal to complain,” reported Martinez, of Bridgeport. “They advised me to take this or depart.”
Through Martinez’s time at Fareva, she spoke up about a lack of breaks for the duration of shifts and the lack of ability to switch operate roles to anything a lot less intense, but she was consistently overlooked, she explained.
Dias Rivas, of suburban Prospect Heights, explained she confirmed up to a frequently scheduled shift just to be told that she was not necessary on a quantity of events. She mentioned she was sent residence without having spend for the working day, violating an Illinois regulation safeguarding non permanent personnel, in accordance to the lawsuit.
“It did not issue to them that I still had to pay out my babysitter for an entire day,” Diaz Rivas claimed. “I explained to them they needed to allow me know beforehand if I didn’t have to have to come in, and they dismissed me.”
Immediately after the girls remaining Exceptional Staffing and Fareva, Martinez and Diaz Rivas explained they sought assistance from the Very little Village-primarily based firm Chicago Local community and Workers’ Legal rights, which linked them with legal counsel via Increase the Floor Alliance.
Mark Birhanu, a workers lawyer from Elevate the Ground, explained temporary staff are some of the most vulnerable to exploitation and labor violations like the ones alleged in Martinez and Diaz Rivas’ lawsuit, mainly due to the fact of how unregulated the short-term staffing economy is.
“We’re undertaking this so that other employees do not go through what [Diaz Rivas and Martinez] suffered by way of,” Birhanu mentioned. “Acknowledging stories like individuals heard from [them] are specifically why this regulation exists.”
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