U.S. Department of Labor Recovers $173,851 in Back Wages For 89 Electrical Workers After Investigation Finds Overtime Violations

WILDWOOD, FL – After an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD), Galaxy Home Solutions Inc. – based in Wildwood, Florida – has paid $173,851 in back wages to 89 employees to resolve overtime violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

WHD investigators found Galaxy Home Solutions Inc. paid electrical installation crews a piece-rate, without regard to the number of hours that employees worked. By doing so, the employer failed to pay overtime violations when employees worked more than 40 hours in a workweek, an FLSA violation. Unless a specific exemption applies, the FLSA requires employers to pay workers time and one-half their regular rates of pay for hours they work beyond 40 in a workweek, whether they are paid by the hour, on a salary, by the piece, or by other methods.

“Paying employees piece rates does not excuse an employer’s requirement to pay their workers overtime,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Nicolas Ratmiroff, in Tampa, Florida. “We hope that other employers in this industry can learn from the results of this case, and evaluate their own pay practices. We encourage all employers to reach out to us for compliance assistance, and for help understanding their obligations to their employees.”

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. A compliance assistance toolkit is also available for employers in the construction industry.

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.