Bayonet Plumbing, Heating & Air Conditioning in Bayonet Point, Fla., has paid $33,795 in back wages and liquidated damages to 57 employees after an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division. The contractor violated overtime and recordkeeping provisions in the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), according to an agency news release.
The investigation by the Wage and Hour Division determined the contractor issued technicians and installers’ payroll checks for the hours they worked, and separate bonuses or commission based payments on additional services offered to customers. By failing to include those bonuses and commission amounts in the calculation of overtime rates in instances when employees worked more than 40 hours in a workweek, Bayonet Plumbing, Heating & Air Conditioning violated FLSA overtime requirements. Investigators also found the employer paid some employees a second, separate check for welding jobs they performed aside from their primary payment. The employer did not add the hours spent welding with the hours spent in technician and installation duties, again resulting in overtime violations in instances when combined hours totaled more than 40 hours in a workweek.
“Employers must track and total all the hours employees work to ensure they are paid overtime as the law requires,” said Wage and Hour Division Tampa, Fla., district director James Schmidt said. “Other employers should use the results of this investigation as an opportunity to review their own pay practices to make sure they are in compliance. We encourage them to reach out to us with questions, and to use the wide variety of tools we offer to help them understand their responsibilities.”