Pilgrim's Pride Corp. has announced it has reached a settlement agreement with the US Department of Labor regarding the federal government's review of time collection practices at the company's Dallas, Texas, processing facility. The review focused specifically on pay for the minimal time employees spend in putting on and taking off protective work clothing such as smocks, aprons and gloves required for their jobs at the plant.

Under the terms of the agreement, the company will pay approximately $1 million to the Department of Labor; the federal government will distribute those funds as overtime compensation to approximately 800 current and former employees of the company's Dallas facility. Both Pilgrim's Pride and the Department of Labor acknowledge that the agreement does not constitute any admission that the company violated any provision of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

As part of the settlement, Pilgrim's Pride has agreed to modify certain time collection practices, which have been standard in the industry for decades, in order to resolve the government's 'donning and doffing' case and satisfy the concerns expressed by the Department of Labor.