U.S. Department of Labor Investigation Finds Tennessee Plumbing Company Violated Federal Wage and Child Labor Laws

CLARKSVILLE, TN – An investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) has led the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee to issue a consent order against a Clarksville, Tennessee-based employer for violating overtime and recordkeeping requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The employer will also pay a civil money penalty for a child labor violation.

The court has ordered Tim Jurisin Plumbing Inc. and Timothy R. Jurisin to pay $50,000 in back wages and damages to 12 employees. As a separate part of the investigation, the employer agreed to pay $1,765 in civil money penalties for violating child labor laws.

The action comes after WHD investigators determined the residential and commercial plumbing company failed to pay employees for time they spent traveling back to the company’s shop following out-of-town day assignments. WHD determined that Tim Jurisin Plumbing directed employees to report to the firm’s headquarters and begin their workday getting work orders, supplies and company vehicles and to return the vehicles and completed work orders at the end of the day. The firm’s practice of failing to pay workers for the end of day travel time resulted in overtime violations when the unpaid time combined with worksite hours exceeded 40 hour per week. Additionally, the employer’s failure to record this worktime resulted in a violation of FLSA recordkeeping requirements.

WHD also found that Tim Jurisin Plumbing employed one minor employee to engage in job duties prohibited by child labor protections when the minor used various power-driven equipment to perform plumbing duties.

In addition to paying back wages, damages and penalties, the employer agreed to a permanent injunction which prohibits the employer from violating the FLSA in the future.

“Employers have an obligation to pay their employees for all the hours they work, including time spent driving to and from job sites,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Nettie Lewis, in Nashville, Tennessee. “The outcome of this investigation serves as a reminder to all employers to review their pay practices to confirm that workers are being paid as the law prescribes and that they are invited to contact us for compliance assistance. Violations like those found in this investigation can be avoided.”

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, child labor and other laws enforced by the Wage and Hour Division, contact the toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Employers that 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, including a search tool for workers who may be owed back wages collected by 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.