U.S. Department of Labor Investigation Results in Florida Air Conditioning Company Paying $57,000 in Back Wages

TAMPA, FL – After an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD), Simpson Mechanical Inc. – an air conditioning maintenance and installation company based in Tampa, Florida – has paid $57,018 in back wages to 35 employees for violating the overtime and recordkeeping requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

WHD investigators found Simpson Mechanical Inc. failed to record and pay for time some employees spent loading trucks and traveling between job sites. The employer also paid some employees flat salaries regardless of the number of hours they worked. This practice resulted in violations when Simpson Mechanical Inc. failed to pay those employees overtime when they worked more than 40 hours in a workweek. In addition, the employer failed to include additional compensation earned by some workers in their regular rates when computing overtime, resulting in the payment of rates lower than the law requires.

“Employers must pay their employees the wages they have rightfully earned,” said Wage and Hour District Director James Schmidt, in Tampa, Florida. “Simply paying workers by the job, or on a salary, doesn’t mean they’re not entitled to overtime, nor does it mean that employers don’t have to track the hours those employees work. The Tampa Wage and Hour Division district office is available to assist employers and employees in understanding their obligations and rights under federal laws and regulations.”

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/agencies/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.