US Department of Labor recovers more than $530K in back wages after investigation finds Florida employer missed multiple payrolls

Hallandale, FL – Construction industry employers owe it to their workers to pay them their hard-earned wages on time for their long hours and often demanding, physical labor.

A Hallandale-based restoration firm has learned that failing to meet these obligations doesn’t pay.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division has recovered $533,778 in back wages for 325 employees of Oceanside Labor & Demolition LLC, a contractor offering disaster and fire restoration work nationwide. Investigators found the employer failed to make payroll for three pay periods, leaving employees with no wages over several workweeks. The Fair Labor Standards Act requires that employers pay workers at least the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour, and overtime at one-and-one-half times their hourly rate for hours worked over 40 in a workweek.

“Employers must pay their employees all of the wages they have earned for all of the hours they worked, and do so no later than their regularly scheduled payday,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Daniel Cronin in Miami, Florida. “These essential workers, among those that have kept us moving forward throughout this global pandemic, deserve to be paid fully and on time. The Wage and Hour Division remains committed to ensuring that workers receive every penny they have earned, and that employers compete on a level playing field.”

For more information about the FLSA and other laws enforced by the agency, contact the division’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Learn more about the Wage and Hour Division, including a search tool to use if you think you may be owed back wages collected by the division.