Contractor Pays $249,278 in Overtime and Recordkeeping Case
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Friday, December 7, 2018 |
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After an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division (WHD), Ernest P. Breaux Electrical LLC – an electrical contractor based in New Iberia, Louisiana – has paid $249,278 in back wages to 117 employees for violating the Fair Labor Standards Act's (FLSA) overtime and recordkeeping requirements.
WHD investigators found Ernest P. Breaux Electrical LLC violated overtime FLSA provisions when the employer wrongly classified employees as independent contractors, and subsequently failed to pay them overtime when they worked more than 40 hours in a workweek. The employer also failed to keep accurate payroll records as required by federal law.
WHD also found that an employee recruited additional employees to perform labor at construction sites where the employer had contracts to perform electrical services. Although the employer considered the employee who did the recruiting to be an independent contractor, WHD investigators determined he was, in fact, an Ernest P. Breaux Electrical LLC employee, as were those he recruited. The employer has cooperated with the investigation and agreed to put measures in place to avoid future violations.
"Employers in the construction industry must pay their employees the wages they have legally earned," said Wage and Hour Division District Director Troy Mouton, in New Orleans. "We want to help employers in construction, and in all industries, learn what federal labor laws require so that employees are paid what they have legally earned, and employers can avoid violations and compete on a level playing field."
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