The U.S. Department of Labor has secured a consent judgment to recover $550,000 in back wages and liquidated damages for 614 employees from a Las Vegas construction company. The judgment was entered in the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada following an investigation by the department’s Wage and Hour Division.
The investigation determined that Colvin Construction Inc. attempted to avoid paying overtime by failing to combine all hours worked by employees. Despite workers averaging 55 hours per week, the employer did not pay the required overtime rate of one and one-half times the regular rate of pay for all hours over 40 in a workweek, violating the Fair Labor Standards Act.
In addition to recovering $275,000 in back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages, the judgment orders Colvin Construction to pay $10,000 in penalties for willful violations and permanently forbids future FLSA violations.
The judgment also mandates Colvin Construction to:
- Accurately record all hours worked by employees, their rates of pay for each hour, their total straight-time weekly earnings, and premium pay for overtime hours worked.
- Implement a timekeeping system that allows employees to track their individual work hours daily.
- Maintain all time, piece-rate, and payroll records for at least three years.
“The U.S. Department of Labor is determined to defend the rights of construction workers to receive the entire amount of their wages and will use all tools available to seek justice,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Gene Ramos in Las Vegas. “Employers can’t dodge paying overtime by willfully ignoring the number of hours their employees work. The results of our investigation brought this employer into compliance, leveled the playing field and recovered workers’ wages.”
The Wage and Hour Division’s Las Vegas District Office conducted the investigation. The regional Office of the Solicitor in San Francisco obtained the judgment in court.
“This judgment reflects our commitment to do everything we are able to protect the rights of workers to receive their full earnings in the Nevada construction industry,” explained Regional Solicitor Marc Pilotin in San Francisco. “Thanks to the results of this case, hundreds of piece-rate construction workers will receive their back wages and an equal amount in damages for what they had to endure.”
Incorporated in Nevada in 2014, Colvin Construction provides drywall and plastering services to residential and commercial customers.
Learn more about the Wage and Hour Division, including a search tool if you think you may be owed back wages collected by the division and how to file an online complaint. For confidential compliance assistance, employees and employers can call the agency’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). The division can speak with callers in more than 200 languages.
Download the agency’s new Timesheet App for iOS and Android devices – available in English and Spanish – to ensure hours and pay are accurate.
This news release is also available in Spanish.
