Apopka, Florida, Contractor to Pay $16,852 in Back Wages After U.S. Department of Labor Investigation Uncovers Overtime Violations

APOPKA, FL – After an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD), Randall Mechanical Inc., an Apopka, Florida, contractor will pay $16,852 in back wages to 20 employees for violating overtime requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

WHD investigators found that Randall Mechanical Inc. failed to pay employees in its accounting department overtime when they worked more than 40 hours in a workweek. Instead, the employer would bank the overtime hours and pay them out, at straight time, as paid time off to be used in future workweeks. Randall Mechanical also failed to keep required records of the total number of hours worked by some employees, triggering a recordkeeping violation under the FLSA.

“Private employers are not permitted to bank overtime hours and use them as compensatory time off in future workweeks,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Wildalí De Jesús, in Orlando, Florida. “Employees must be paid all the wages they have legally earned, including overtime. We encourage all employers and employees to reach out to their local Wage and Hour Division office to learn their responsibilities and rights under federal law. Anyone with questions can call our offices confidentially and speak with a trained professional to have their questions answered.”

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 or confidential calls 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 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.

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 paid sick leave and expanded family and medical leave requirements of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, 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.