U.S. Department of Labor Recovers $141,047 in Back Wages For Louisiana-Based Employees of Security Contractor

NEW ORLEANS, LA – After an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD), Classic Air Charter LLC – a federal contractor based in Melbourne, Florida – has paid $141,047 in back wages to employees in Louisiana to resolve violations of the McNamara-O’Hara Service Contract Act (SCA) and the Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act (CWHSSA).

WHD investigators found Classic Air Charter LLC received a federal contract with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) but failed to include SCA wage requirements in its contract with its subcontractor.  The subcontractor then failed to pay required prevailing wages and fringe benefits to employees providing security services on the contract. Paying rates below those required by the SCA further resulted in the subcontractor paying overtime at rates below those required by law. As the prime contractor on this contract, Classic Air was liable for all the back wages due to employees of the subcontractor.

ICE awarded Classic Air Charter the contract for detainee security services on flights from several U.S. airports.

“Employers who provide services to the federal government must ensure their subcontractors have the information they need to comply with the law,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Troy Mouton in New Orleans, Louisiana. “When a contractor fails to communicate contractual requirements to its subcontractors, they increase the risk of violating the law and that workers will not receive the pay and benefits they have earned.  Government contractors are welcome to contact any WHD office for additional information on how to comply with the Service Contract Act.”

The McNamara-O’Hara Service Contract Act requires contractors and subcontractors performing services on prime contracts in excess of $2,500 to pay service employees in various classes no less than the wage rates and fringe benefits found prevailing in the locality, or the rates, including prospective increases, contained in a predecessor contractor's collective bargaining agreement.

The Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act (CWHSSA) requires contractors and subcontractors to pay covered workers employed in the performance of covered contracts one and one-half times their basic rate of pay for all hours worked over 40 in a workweek.

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.

For more information about the SCA and other laws enforced by the Wage and Hour Division, contact the division's toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Information is also available at http://www.dol.gov/whd including a search tool to use if you think you may be owed back wages collected by WHD.

The mission of WHD 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.