CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. — The Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry on Thursday announced that it has taken legal action against a Franklin County school and its affiliated entities on behalf of 21 employees who are allegedly owed more than $250,000 in unpaid wages under Pennsylvania’s Wage Payment and Collection Law.
L&I’s Bureau of Labor Law Compliance filed a civil action in the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas in an effort to recover unpaid wages for 21 Scotland Campus employees who allegedly worked without pay for a four-month period between December 2022 and April 2023, when Scotland Campus appears to have halted operations, according to L&I.
As the agency responsible for enforcement of the WPCL, L&I alleges that Scotland Campus is liable for the unpaid wages and penalties totaling more than $346,000.
“Workers are entitled to be paid for their labor, and employers that fail to compensate their employees should know that L&I will exercise its enforcement authority to get workers paid under the Wage Payment and Collection Law,” said L&I Secretary Nancy A. Walker.
Scotland Campus originally operated as the Soldiers' Orphans Industrial School and served children orphaned by the Civil War. While it had operated for many years before, its official establishment was in 1895. It was renamed the Scotland School for Veterans' Children in 1951 and offered tuition-free education to children of military veterans and active-duty personnel in Pennsylvania.
The school closed in 2009 and was sold to a seminary in 2013. It later re-opened as the Scotland Campus and provided educational opportunities for children as well as space for businesses and events.
Pennsylvania's Wage Payment and Collection Law regulates the manner in which employers pay their employees and provides a legal avenue for employees to recover unpaid wages. The law stipulates when and how often the employer must pay wages, what deductions may be taken from an employee's wages, and the methods of payment that are permissible.
