Gainesville roofing contractor pays $31K in back wages to 30 workers after US Department of Labor finds employer denied overtime illegally

GAINESVILLE, FL – Roofing workers face hard work in hot weather, the risks of working at dangerous heights and, for 30 employees of a Gainesville contractor, concerns about not getting paid all of the wages they legally earned.

During a recent U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division investigation of Perry Roofing Inc. – which operates as Perry Roofing Contractors – the division found the employer violated overtime and recordkeeping requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act. The division determined that Perry Roofing failed to include production-related and profit-sharing bonuses in the calculation when determining workers’ overtime rates. By doing so, the employer paid workers less for their overtime hours than the law requires. Perry also failed to record start and stop times for workers paid by piece-rate.

Investigators also found the employer illegally banked regular and overtime earnings for workers recruited from Gainesville’s Santa Fe Bridge Community Work Release Center. The division found that the employer paid the release center minimum wage for the employees’ first 40 hours worked, and then withheld the difference between the workers’ hourly rate and the minimum wage rate, plus payment for any overtime hours. Perry then allowed workers to draw from the overtime bank as needed in the form of gift cards or other advances. The law requires employers to pay workers for all the hours they have worked on their regular payday.

The investigation resulted in the recovery of $31,673 in back wages for 30 workers.

“Employers must pay their workers all of the wages they have earned. This case shows the Wage and Hour Division’s commitment to respect and protect workers, and to ensure that happens,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Wildalí De Jesús, in Orlando, Florida. “We encourage other employers to use this investigation’s outcome as an opportunity to review their own pay practices to ensure they comply with the law.”

The division offers numerous compliance assistance toolkits to help construction industry employers learn about their obligations under federal law.

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, and use its search tool if you think you may be owed back wages collected by the division.