U.S. Department of Labor Investigation Results in Arizona Contractor Paying Employees $723,674

PHOENIX, AZ – After a U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division (WHD) investigation, Younger Brothers Companies – a contractor based in Peoria, Arizona – will pay $723,764 to 271 employees. WHD investigators found violations of the overtime and recordkeeping requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

Investigators found Younger Brothers Companies failed to pay employees required overtime rates when they worked more than 40 hours in a workweek. Specifically, the employer failed to include all production bonuses and commissions in employees' regular rates when computing their overtime rates. Excluding these amounts from the calculation resulted in workers being paid overtime at rates lower than those required by law. Additional overtime violations occurred when the employer failed to make any payment at all to some employees for hours they worked beyond 40 in a workweek. Failing to record those unpaid overtime hours also resulted in a FLSA recordkeeping violation.

"Employers are responsible for ensuring that they pay employees all the wages they have legally earned and for keeping accurate records of their hours," said Wage and Hour Division District Director Eric Murray, in Phoenix, Arizona. "The U.S. Department of Labor provides many tools to help employers comply with the law. The results of this investigation should encourage other employers to examine their pay practices. Violations like those found in this case can be avoided."

Younger Brothers is a residential and commercial contractor, materials supplier, and building components manufacturer.

For more information about the FLSA and other laws enforced by the Wage and Hour Division, contact the Division's 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 www.dol.gov/whd, including a search tool to use if you think you may be owed back wages collected by WHD.

Learn more about WHD compliance assistance resources for employers.

WHD's mission is to promote and achieve compliance with labor standards to protect and enhance the welfare of the nation's workforce. WHD enforces the federal minimum wage, overtime pay, recordkeeping, and child labor requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act. WHD also enforces the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act, the Employee Polygraph Protection Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act, the wage garnishment provisions of the Consumer Credit Protection Act, and a number of employment standards and worker protections as provided in several immigration related statutes. Additionally, WHD administers and enforces the prevailing wage requirements of the Davis-Bacon Act and the Service Contract Act, and other statutes applicable to federal contracts for construction and for the provision of goods and services.