U.S. Department of Labor Recovers $51,623 for Employees After Finding Boca Raton Engineering Contractor Violated Federal Overtime Regulations

BOCA RATON, FL – EMS Site Development LLC - a Boca Raton, Florida, engineering contractor – has paid $51,623 in wages to 61 employees after a U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division (WHD) investigation determined the employer violated overtime and recordkeeping provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

The WHD investigation found that the company – managed by Jude Endres and Raul Sherrer – violated overtime requirements when it paid office staff flat salaries without regard to the number of hours they had actually worked. This practice resulted in violations when those employees worked more than 40 hours in a workweek yet were not paid overtime. Additional violations resulted from the firm's practice of paying field staff overtime only when they exceeded 80 hours of work in two workweeks, instead of paying time-and-one-half after 40 hours in a single workweek as the law requires.

WHD also determined EMS Site Development LLC violated the overtime requirements of the FLSA when it failed to pay overtime to employees who also worked at EMS Rolloff Inc. – a second company owned and run by Sherrer. The violation resulted when employees' combined weekly hours on both payrolls exceeded 40, yet were paid straight-time rates with two separate checks for work completed at each company. WHD determined that both companies were part of the same enterprise, requiring those hours to be combined to determine overtime eligibility.

"Simply paying employees a salary does not mean that they are not entitled to overtime," said Wage and Hour Division Deputy Administrator Keith Sonderling. "Employers need to understand their responsibilities, and ensure their pay practices comply with the law. The Wage and Hour Division works to ensure employees receive the wages they have rightfully earned, and that employers compete on a level playing field."

The Department offers numerous resources to ensure employers have the tools they need to understand their responsibilities and to comply with federal law, such as online videos, confidential calls, or in-person visits to local WHD offices.

For more information about the FLSA and other laws enforced by the Wage and Hour Division, contact the toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Employers who discover overtime or minimum wage violations may self-report and resolve those violations without litigation through the PAID program. Information is also available at https://www.dol.gov/whd.