U.S. Department of Labor Investigation Results in Alabama Ironworks Contractor Paying $106,046 in Back Wages and Benefits to 77 Employees

SYLACAUGA, AL – Ironworks subcontractor Hoytt Reinforcing Inc. – based in Sylacauga, Alabama – will pay $106,046 in back wages, overtime, and fringe benefits to 77 employees after a U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) investigation found the employer violated requirements of the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts (DBRA), the Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act (CWHSSA), and the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

WHD investigators determined that Hoytt Reinforcing Inc. inaccurately classified employees doing the work of reinforcing ironworkers as laborers. Hoytt Reinforcing Inc. then paid these employees the rate applicable to laborers, which is less than the required rate for ironworkers, creating the prevailing rate and fringe benefit violation. Due to the inaccurate classification, the employer violated the CWHSSA when it paid overtime based upon these incorrectly lower rates when employees worked more than 40 hours in a workweek. Investigators also found the employer violated the FLSA by failing to maintain accurate time records, a violation of the recordkeeping requirements.

Hoytt Reinforcing Inc. is an ironworks subcontractor on the I-65 and I-20/59 interchange and bridge replacement project in Birmingham, Alabama - a project funded by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration and the Alabama Department of Transportation. The DBRA requires contractors and subcontractors performing work on federal and certain federally funded projects to pay workers prevailing wage rates and fringe benefits as determined by the U.S. Secretary of Labor and as included in their contracts.

“No contractor should gain an economic advantage by paying workers below the wages and fringe benefits required on a prevailing wage project,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Kenneth Stripling, in Birmingham. “Not only does this practice undercut what the workers involved are legally owed for their work, it results in unfair competition for contractors who play by the rules.”

For more information about the FLSA, DBRA, CWHSSA, and other laws enforced by the Division, contact the Division’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243) or visit the Division’s web site. The Division also offers a search tool which allows users to determine if you are owed back wages collected by the Division.