Palm Bay Electrical Contractor to Pay $19,642 in Back Wages After U.S. Department of Labor Finds Overtime Violations

PALM BAY, FL – After an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD), Cornelius Electrical Contractors Inc. – based in Palm Bay, Florida – will pay $19,642 in back wages to 13 employees after violating overtime requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

WHD investigators determined that the electrical contractor failed to record and pay as work time the hours employees spent driving between work sites. That unpaid travel time resulted in overtime violations when workweeks exceeded 40 hours. Cornelius Electrical further violated FLSA overtime requirements when it failed to include incentive pay in the calculation of workers’ overtime rates, instead basing their time and one-half rates only on their hourly base rates. This exclusion resulted in the employer paying for overtime hours at rates lower than those required by law. Recordkeeping violations resulted from the employer’s failure to record travel time as hours worked.

“The U.S. Department of Labor continues to ensure that employees are paid all the wages they have legally earned for every hour they work. Travel time between job sites during the work day must be counted as work time,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Wildalí De Jesús, in Orlando, Florida. “We encourage other employers to use this investigation as an opportunity to review their own pay practices, ensure they comply, and avoid violations like those in this case.”

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 Division’s 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 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.