Seminole, Florida, Company Pays $10,125 in Back Wages to Employees After U.S. Department of Labor Investigation Uncovers Overtime Violations

TAMPA, FL – After an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD), Jenergy Air Services, LLC – a heating, ventilation and air conditioning company based in Seminole, Florida –   has paid $10,125 in back wages to 10 employees to settle overtime violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

WHD investigators found Jenergy Air Services, LLC paid workers overtime when they worked more than 80 hours in a two-week period, instead of for hours worked beyond 40 in one week, as the law requires. Jenergy also deducted meal breaks from workers’ timecards automatically, regardless of whether employees had actually taken those breaks. This practice resulted in violations when employees worked through breaks, but the employer failed to record or pay for those hours as work time.

“Employers must ensure they pay their workers the wages they have rightfully earned as federal law requires,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Nicolas Ratmiroff, in Tampa, Florida. “We encourage all employers to reach out to us for compliance assistance, and for help understanding their obligations to their employees. The U.S. Department of Labor will continue working to level the playing field for employers that play by the rules, and to ensure workers get paid the wages they have legally earned.”

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 and 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.