Florida-based plumbing organisation Absolute Plumbing has been ordered to pay $145,297 (£110,385) in back wages and damages to 46 employees for overtime violations after an investigation by the US Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) discovered it was violating federal law.
The investigation found that the residential and commercial plumbing organisation had violated the overtime requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) by paying employees straight-time hourly rates and did not take into account any hours its employees worked over the standard 40 hours per week.
Absolute Plumbing also automatically deducted 30-minute meal breaks from employees’ wages, which did not take into account whether employees' schedules actually enabled them to take breaks, resulting in some employees not being paid for hours they worked.
In addition, the organisation failed to maintain an accurate record of the actual number of hours worked by its employees.
Tony Pham, district director at the WHD, said: “Employers have an obligation to pay their employees for all the hours that they work. This includes paying employees for time spent driving between job sites, and for time when they work through their meal breaks,”
“The US Department of Labor is committed to ensuring that businesses that violate labor laws do not gain an unfair advantage over those that play by the rules. We encourage employers and employees to familiarise themselves with their obligations and rights under the law.”
