CONTRACTOR TO PAY OVER $220,000 TO WORKERS FOR PRESHIFT AND POSTSHIFT HOURS WORKED

FROM:  U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR 

Carpentry business to pay more than $220K in back wages and damages to workers

Employer failed to record and pay for preshift and postshift hours worked
LOS ANGELES — A southern California carpentry contractor has agreed to pay $111,305 in overtime back wages and the same amount in liquidated damages to 29 workers.

An investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division in Orange found Next Level Door & Millwork Inc. in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act's overtime and record-keeping provisions for failure to record and compensate workers for all hours worked.

"It is an employer's responsibility to record and pay for all work hours. Failure to do so adversely impacts not only employees and their families, but provides an unfair competitive edge over those employers who abide by the rules," said Rudy Cortez, the director of the division's San Diego District Office. "We are pleased that Next Level Door & Millwork has agreed to include Wage and Hour Division contact information and information about recording preshift and postshift work in all new hire packages it distributes."

Investigators found that employees were required to report to the shop to pick up materials and tools or to drive the company truck to the job site. Workers were also required to return the items to the shop after leaving the job site. The employer failed to pay for that time.

Next Level Door & Millwork is a licensed interior and exterior finish carpentry contractor with approximately 50 employees working at headquarters in Indio. At the time of the investigation, the company worked as a subcontractor for Pulte Home Corp. at the Hawthorne development project in Irvine. The company has satellite locations in Riverside and in Las Vegas.

The FLSA requires that covered employees be paid at least a minimum wage of $7.25 for all hours worked, plus time and one-half their regular rates, including commissions, bonuses and incentive pay, for hours worked beyond 40 per week. Employers are required to provide employees with a notice about FLSA's tip credit provisions, to maintain accurate time and payroll records and to comply with the hours, hazardous orders and other restrictions applying to workers under age 18. The FLSA provides that employers who violate the law are, as a general rule, liable to employees for back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages.