U.S. Department of Labor Investigation Finds South Carolina Electrical Contractor Violated Overtime Requirements

FORT MILL, SC – After an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD), Simpson Electric Co. – a residential electric company based in Fort Mill, South Carolina – has paid $21,500 in back wages to 116 employees for violating overtime requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

WHD investigators found Simpson Electric Co. failed to include quarterly bonuses it paid to employees when calculating their overtime rates when they worked more than 40 hours in a workweek. Instead, the employer based overtime only on employees’ base hourly pay. This exclusion resulted in the employer paying overtime at rates lower than those the law requires.

“Employers must have a clear understanding of which kinds of perks they need to include, and which they can exclude when calculating overtime,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Jamie Benefiel, in Columbia, South Carolina. “Other employers should use the results of this investigation as an opportunity to review their own pay practices to make sure they are in compliance. We encourage them to reach out to us with questions, and to use the wide variety of tools we offer to help them understand their responsibilities.”

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.