US Department of Labor finds overtime violations at a Florida air conditioning company, recovers $34K in back wages for 43 workers

ORLANDO, FL – A U.S. Department of Labor investigation found an Orlando air conditioning and heating service company failed to pay workers the overtime wages they legally earned, in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

The department’s Wage and Hour Division investigators found Mills Air Conditioning & Heating Inc. – operating as Mills Air Inc. – violated provisions of the FLSA when it failed to pay workers proper overtime when they worked more than 40 hours in a workweek. The violations occurred when the employer failed to include commission and incentive pay in the workers’ overtime pay rate. The division also determined that payroll records failed to accurately document overtime hours worked. Mills Air Inc. also failed to record hours worked for one employee paid on a salary basis. Both practices resulted in violations of the FLSA recordkeeping requirements.

The division’s investigation led to the recovery of $34,142 in back wages for 43 workers.

“Employers who pay production bonuses, incentives and commission must include those earnings in the weekly overtime computations,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Wildalí De Jesús in Orlando, Florida. “Wage and Hour Division’s mission, in part, is to ensure workers are paid correctly as outlined by federal laws. This case should encourage all employers to review their pay practices and contact the division with questions to avoid violations.”

Mills Air Inc. is located in Orlando and provides services across 18 cities in Central Florida including in Kissimmee, Oviedo and Longwood.

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.

Workers can call the Wage and Hour Division confidentially with questions – regardless of their immigration status – and the department can speak with callers in more than 200 languages.