The U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division determined a Reno landscaping company denied 57 of its workers overtime wages by paying cash for hours above 40 in a workweek.
H&H Landscape LLC reportedly did not record all hours its employees worked in pay records which is another violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act, according to a June 22 news release.
“Landscaping work is hard, harder still when temperatures soar. H&H Landscape’s employees have the right to be paid all the wages they’ve earned and their employer has a legal obligation to pay them,” Sylvia Argueta,Wage and Hour Division assistant district director in Las Vegas, said in the release. “The U.S. Department of Labor found that H&H Landscaping shortchanged nearly 60 workers of wages they depend on to care for themselves and their families and willfully failed to record all of the hours worked in an attempt to avoid paying overtime.”
The Wage and Hour Division recovered $88,957 in overtime back wages for the affected employees. It also assessed H&H Landscape $29,640 in penalties for its willful record keeping violations, the release reported.
Employers who violate federal labor laws by denying workers their full wages gain an unfair competitive advantage over those who abide by the law, Argueta added, according to the release.
“Employers are struggling these days to fill the positions they need to operate their businesses which gives law-abiding employers a better chance to retain and recruit the people they need,” she said, according to the release.
