US Department of Labor recovers $94K in back wages, damages for 33 underpaid employees of Las Vegas construction company

LAS VEGAS – A federal investigation has recovered $94,112 in back wages and liquidated damages for 33 workers of a Las Vegas construction company that denied them overtime wages by misclassifying the workers as independent contractors. The investigation also found that the employer denied a worker sick leave in violation of the Family First Coronavirus Response Act.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division determined that Design Works Custom Painting Inc. paid the misclassified workers at straight-time rates when they worked hours over 40 hours in a work week, including some who worked as many as 70 hours in a week. Investigators also found the employer provided inaccurate records of hours worked by employees. These actions violated the Fair Labor Standards Act.

“The Wage and Hour Division takes wage theft very seriously. Design Works Custom Painting Inc. attempted to shortchange workers by misclassifying them as independent contractors,” said Wage and Hour District Director Gene Ramos in Las Vegas. “This errant practice is a priority for our investigators, and as the outcome of this case shows, non-compliance has costly consequences.”

The Wage and Hour Division provides multiple tools to help employers understand their responsibilities and offer confidential compliance assistance to anyone with questions about how to comply with the law. Workers can call the division confidentially with questions – regardless of their immigration status – and the department can speak with callers in more than 200 languages.

Learn more about the Wage and Hour Division, including a search tool to use if you think you may be owed back wages collected by the division.