UWM Pays $2.75M To Settle Claims It Failed To Pay Overtime
UWM Pays $2.75M To Settle Claims It Failed To Pay Overtime
Abstract
The company last week distributed notices about the settlement, which applies to current or former account executives who worked at UWM between Oct. 12, 2018, and Dec. 23, 2021. UWM declined to comment on the settlement, but it shared the notice sent to employees. The notice from Allen Beydoun, executive vice president of sales, said UWM is "Confident that our account executives were and are fairly and accurately compensated for the work and time dedicated to their business. UWM made the choice to stop spending additional time and money with attorneys, and solely focus on growing the business and the wholesale channel." In that same letter, Beydoun said UWM does not plan to change any of its policies or practices at this time. It's unclear how many employees will qualify to receive some of the settlement. The federal lawsuit, which was dismissed without prejudice this March, said UWM promised employees they would only work a "Firm 40," however, that was not the case. Haberlein's lawsuit claimed that employees were required to attend "Pre-work" meetings called "Dominate at Eight," but were not allowed to clock in for their official start time until after the 15- to 20-minute meeting. Haberlein alleged in the lawsuit that they were required to "Answer all work calls if they were eating lunch at their desk; or forward their work phones to their personal cell phones so that they could answer work calls during their personal time." In April, UWM President and CEO Mat Ishbia took a shot at its Michigan-based competitor, Rocket Mortgage, for not treating workers properly.