U.S. Department of Labor Investigation Finds Federal Contractor Violated Wage Law in Georgia

ALBANY, GA – After an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD), XOtech LLC – a federal contractor based in Tyrone, Georgia – has paid $43,224 in back wages to five employees for violating requirements of the McNamara-O’Hara Service Contract Act (SCA), at the Marine Corps Logistics Base in Albany, Georgia.

WHD investigators determined XOtech LLC incorrectly classified some employees performing work on XOtech LLC’s contract, erroneously considering them to belong in job categories paid lower rates than those applicable to the work they actually performed. This misclassification caused the employer to pay prevailing wage rates lower than those the law requires. The employer also failed to record classifications and rates of pay required for the classes of employees accurately. 

“Contractors and subcontractors awarded federal contracts must understand that incorrectly classifying employees can lead to numerous violations,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Eric Williams, in Atlanta, Georgia. “The U.S. Department of Labor offers employers a wide variety of tools and free prevailing wage seminars to help them understand their responsibilities.”

The SCA requires contractors and subcontractors performing services on prime contracts in excess of $2,500 to pay service employees in various classes no less than the wage rates and fringe benefits found prevailing in the locality, or the rates, including prospective increases, contained in a predecessor contractor’s collective bargaining agreement.

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, SCA and other laws enforced by the WHD, contact the toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Information is also available at https://www.dol.gov/whd.

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 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, 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.

The mission of the Department of Labor is to foster, promote, and develop the welfare of the wage earners, job seekers, and retirees of the United States; improve working conditions; advance opportunities for profitable employment; and assure work-related benefits and rights.