36 YEARS
NORTHEAST EDITION
AUTOBODY CT / DE / ME / MD / MA / NH / NJ / NY / PA / RI / VT
AUTOBODYNEWS.COM
Vol. 9 / Issue 3 / June 2018
Belle Tire to Pay $342,000 in Back Wages After Department of Labor Investigation
SCRS Meeting Includes Election, Awards, Info Related to DEG
by Penny Stacey, pstacey@glass.com
by Autobody News Staff
Belle Tire has agreed to pay $342,926 in back wages to 1,207 employees at 100 locations in Michigan, Indiana and Ohio after a U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) Wage and Hour Division (WHD) investigation, according a press release from the DOL. WHD investigators determined Belle Tire violated the overtime provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) when the company failed to include incentive bonuses and sales commissions earned by employees in their rates of pay when
calculating their overtime payment. Instead, WHD alleges that the company paid workers time-and-onehalf of only their base rates, without considering the amounts by which these bonuses and commissions had boosted employees’ straight time earnings. The violation affected nonexempted employees including–tire technicians, mechanics, sales staff, mobile auto glass mechanics, and those offering roadside assistance, according to a report from the DOL. “Wage violations can be avoided when employers understand the reSee Belle Tire, Page 6
Brockton, MA, Auto Body Shop Shut Down by City Council by Marc Larocque, The Enterprise of Brockton, MA
After complaints from neighbors, citations over parking issues and a hostile confrontation with a police officer, an auto body repair shop had its license revoked by the City Council the week of April 22. The City Council voted April 23 to revoke the license of Lubras Auto Body and Auto Repair, located at 64 Elliot St. in Brockton, MA, after receiving reports from police and neighbors about quality of life issues there, including driveways that were blocked and vehicles that were
parked illegally around the business. Lubras lost the license after first receiving it four years ago. “The people in that neighborhood are very upset,” said Ward 6 City Councilor Jack Lally, speaking at an initial public hearing earlier this year about the Lubras matter. “The people in the area are not happy with this garage. It’s not a positive aspect of the community in their eyes, and they would have liked to [have] seen it gone a while ago.” Lally and others on City Council made the final vote April 23 to revoke See Shop Shut Down, Page 14
A fourth open seat on the board was filled by Dominic During several days of Brusco of PPG, who had events in Denver in midpreviously spent five years April, the Society of Collion the SCRS board earlier sion Repair Specialists this decade. He defeated in(SCRS) elected new board cumbent Mark Bodreau of Matthew members, presented several Caliber Collision, who durMcDonnell ing his 5-year term on the awards and held a meeting that offered presentations on techni- board had sold his Virginia collision cal issues and free tools available to repair business to that consolidator. SCRS Chairman Kye Yeung said Bothe industry. dreau had been “an integral Three current SCRS part of the board,” and hoped board members were rehe would continue to play a elected to another term. Rerole in the association. taining their seats on the board were Michael BradDuring discussions and presentations at the “open shaw of K&M Collision in North Carolina, Bruce Halmeeting” portion of the association’s board meeting in cro of Capital Collision CenAmber Alley Denver, Matthew McDonters in Montana and Paul See SCRS Meeting, Page 22 Sgro of Lee’s Garage in New Jersey.
Labor Shortage Quickly Becoming a Business Crisis in ME by Kate Cough, The Ellsworth American
Ask Burnie Gordon, owner of Precision Autobody in Hancock, ME, how he feels about the labor market in the area, and you may get a sardonic chuckle. “I don’t think there is any labor market. There just is no workforce out there anymore,” Gordon said. Maine’s unemployment rate fell again in March to 2.7 percent statewide. Nationwide, unemployment is at 4.1 percent, the lowest since 2000. The unemployment rate in Hancock County also decreased, to 4.3 percent. The number of underemployed people (among them, those who work part-time but want full-time work, those who are overqualified for their positions or those who have not actively looked for a job re-
cently) fell to 7.8 percent, the lowest level since 2001. This may be good news for job seekers, but employers around the state, and the country, are starting to panic. “We’re not the only state that’s experiencing this,” said Sen. Brian Langley, who represents Senate District 7 and owns the Union River Lobster Pot restaurant in Ellsworth, ME. “All of New England has a similar problem.” The issue isn’t confined to New England, and it isn’t projected to get better soon. Declining birth rates, decreasing international migration and an aging population are all expected to contribute to slower labor force expansion and population growth over the next five years, according to an analysis by the U.S. Department See Labor Shortage, Page 26
PERMIT #288 ANAHEIM, CA
PAID
Change Service Requested
P.O. BOX 1516, CARLSBAD, CA 92018
PRESORTED STANDARD U.S. POSTAGE