04/22/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 04/22/2024 10:46
News Release
PHOENIX - The U.S. Department of Labor announced today that efforts to protect residential construction workers from unlawful pay practices have recovered a total of $3.2 million in wages and damages from four Arizona contractors for 890 workers.
After a series of investigations, the department's Wage and Hour Division determined that 4-E Painting LLC and Liberty Constructors LLC in Mesa and BCK Coatings Inc. and Geronimo Wall Systems LLC in Tempe willfully and recklessly shortchanged the affected workers and violated the overtime and minimum wage provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act.
The division's investigations found:
"Our investigators have found that schemes to pay straight-time for all hours worked and avoid paying required overtime rates at time and one-half are pervasive among employers in Arizona's construction industry," said Wage and Hour Division District Director Eric Murray in Phoenix. "These unlawful practices create the false impression that piece-rate workers' wages comply with the Fair Labor Standards Act when, in fact, these employees are being stripped of their earned wages. The Wage and Hour Division is committed to holding employers accountable and ensuring that they do not obtain an unfair competitive advantage by denying workers their full wages."
Following these investigations, the department's Office of the Solicitor sought and obtained consent judgments in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona. The court orders require the contractors to pay the workers their share of more than $3.2 million in back wages and liquidated damages, and to pay the department $95,402 in penalties for their willful and reckless violations.
"More and more construction companies in Arizona are recognizing piece-rate workers' right to overtime and are promptly resolving the department's investigations when they are found to violate this right," said Regional Solicitor Marc Pilotin in San Francisco. "The Solicitor's Office will continue to obtain court judgments to recover back wages, liquidated damages and penalties against employers who violate the FLSA. Companies can avoid these damages and penalties by paying correctly in the first place."
The division urges workers who believe they may be owed wages by these construction employers to call the Wage and Hour Division in Phoenix at 602-514-7100.
The Wage and Hour Division's Phoenix District Office conducted the investigations. The department's Regional Solicitor's Office in San Francisco litigated the cases.
In fiscal year 2023, the division recovered more than $35 million in back wages for more than 17,000 construction industry workersnationwide.
Learn more about the Wage and Hour Division, including a search toolto use if you think you may be owed back wages collected by the division. For more information about the FLSA and other laws enforced by the division, contact the agency's toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). The division can speak with callers confidentially in more than 200 languages, regardless of their immigration status. Download the agency's new Timesheet Appfor Android and iOS devices - free and now available in English and Spanish - to ensure hours and pay are accurate.
Julie A. Su, Acting Secretary of Labor, U.S. Department of Labor vs. Geronimo Wall Systems LLC et al
Case; Julie A. Su, Acting Secretary of Labor, U.S. Department of Labor vs. BCK Coatings Inc. et al
Case; Julie A. Su, Acting Secretary of Labor, U.S. Department of Labor vs. 4-E Painting LLC et al
Case; and Julie A. Su, Acting Secretary of Labor, U.S. Department of Labor vs. Liberty Constructors LLC et al
Case