Pittsburgh industrial painting company pays $25,468 in back wages and liquidated damages following US Department of Labor investigation

PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh-based industrial painting company QSC Contracting LLC paid a total of $25,468 in back wages and liquidated damages to 26 painters following an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division. The firm was in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act's overtime and record-keeping provisions.

"Employees of QSC Contracting worked without receiving legally required overtime compensation. This practice harms not only employees and their families, but employers that violate the law have an unfair, competitive advantage," said John DuMont, director of the division's Pittsburgh District Office. "The FLSA provides that employers that violate the law are, as a general rule, liable to employees for back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages."

An investigation conducted by the division's Pittsburgh District Office found that the company violated the FLSA by paying employees straight-time wages, rather than time and one-half their regular rates of pay for hours worked beyond 40 in a workweek, as required under the act's overtime provision. The employer also failed to maintain accurate records of employees' work hours, in violation of the FLSA's record-keeping requirements.

QSC Contracting has agreed to future compliance with the FLSA. Back wages and liquidated damages have been paid in full.

The FLSA requires that covered, nonexempt employees be paid at least the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour, as well as time and one-half their regular rates of pay for hours worked over 40 per week. In general, hours worked includes all time an employee must be on duty, or on the employer's premises or at any other prescribed place of work, from the beginning of the first principal work activity to the end of the last principal activity of the workday. Additionally, the law requires that accurate records of employees' wages, hours and other conditions of employment be maintained.

The Wage and Hour Division's Pittsburgh office can be reached at 412-395-4996. Information on the FLSA and other federal labor laws is available by calling the division's toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243) or by visiting http://www.dol.gov/whd.