Oklahoma industrial cleaning company agrees to pay more than $235K to 42 workers in back wages, damages

Employer: Power Services Company of Oklahoma LLC

Site: 9881 Hectorville Road, Mounds, Oklahoma

Investigation Findings: U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division investigators found that Power Services Company of Oklahoma LLC violated the overtime and recordkeeping provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act. Workers regularly performed work before and after their schedules shifts, but the work time was not recorded or paid for, resulting in overtime violations when the employees worked more than forty hours in a workweek. The employer also failed to count time spent driving between work sites as work time, resulting in additional unpaid overtime hours. 

Resolution: The firm will pay $117,677 in overtime back wages and an additional, equal amount in liquidated damages totaling $235,354 to 42 employees, and will comply with the FLSA in the future. Additionally, the employer installed an additional time clock to record all hours worked accurately.

Quote: “Employers have a responsibility to know the law and comply with it,” said Betty Campbell, regional administrator for the Wage and Hour Division in the Southwest. “Other employers should pay attention and make sure they don’t make the same mistakes as this company.”

Background: Headquartered in Greeley, Colorado, Power Services is an industrial and environmental services enterprise. The company provides services such as hydroblasting, hydroexcavation, emergency spill cleanup and response, waste transportation and disposal and industrial vacuum truck services.

Information: The division is committed to ensuring that workers receive every penny they have rightfully earned. For more information about the FLSA, call the Wage and Hour Division’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Information also is available at http://www.dol.gov/whd/.