US Department of Labor recovers $46K in back wages for 29 workers after investigation of Gainesville roofing company’s pay practices

GAINESVILLE, FL – A Gainesville roofing contractor learned it must pay its employees for all of the time they work, including pre-shift prep work and post-shift work at day’s end, following a U.S. Department of Labor investigation.

Investigators with the department’s Wage and Hour Division found that Crosier & Son Roofing Inc. required workers to report at 6:45 a.m. to get their trucks and equipment prepared for the day’s work but failed to pay them until they arrived at their first job site. The employer also failed to pay workers for the time spent returning trucks and equipment from job sites. Investigators also found when the roofers worked more than 40 hours in a workweek, Crosier & Son did not record overtime hours in payroll, and paid overtime earnings in cash.

The actions of Crosier and Son Roofing Inc. led to violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act, and to the division’s recovery of $46,302 in back wages for 29 workers. This is the second Gainesville-area roofing company found in violation this year.

“Workers deserve to be paid all the wages earned for all the hours they work. When workers are required to complete any tasks before their shift begins, the workday begins at the start of those tasks and it continues through the completion of the last post-shift activity,” 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 pay practices to avoid similar violations.”

For more information about the FLSA and other laws enforced by the division, including compliance assistance toolkits, 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.

Read this news release En Español.