US Department of Labor recovers more than $150K in wages after investigation finds federal contractor failed to pay employees properly

NASHVILLE, TN – A federal contractor that provides transportation and parking valet service for veterans attending medical appointments has paid $158,068 in back wages to 66 workers to resolve violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act and the McNamara-O'Hara Service Contract Act found in a U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division investigation.

The investigation found Community Pastor Care, LLC doing business as CPC Medical Transportation, violated the Service Contract Act, which governs prevailing wages on federally funded contracts. The investigation determined that the Columbia, South Carolina, company failed to pay employees required prevailing wages, and health and welfare benefits for work they performed under the contract. Investigators also found the contractor failed to pay overtime when employees worked more than 40 hours per week, in violation of the FLSA. The workers performed services for Veterans Affairs medical centers in Memphis and Mountain Home.

“Prevailing wage laws protect workers and level the playing field for all contractors who do business with the government,” said Acting Wage and Hour Division District Director Kenneth Stripling in Nashville, Tennessee. “Employers who fail to pay employees all of the wages they legally earned shortchange their workers and gain an unfair competitive advantage over employers who abide by the law.”

The division 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, fact sheets and an online regulation library. For more information about the FLSA and other laws enforced by the division, contact the agency’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.