US Department of Labor recovers $228K for 35 workers of Maxton contractor that failed to meet federal contract’s wage requirements

MAXTON, NC – Federal laws exist to ensure employees who work on projects funded by public tax dollars receive all of their legally earned wages and fringe benefits. When a Maxton training contractor’s pay practices shortchanged 35 workers employed at Fort Bragg and other military installations, the U.S. Department of Labor took action.

An investigation by the department’s Wage and Hour Division found that Gryphon Group Security Services LLC wrongly assumed some office employees were not entitled to overtime pay and paid them straight time when they worked over 40 hours in a workweek, a violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act’s overtime requirements. Investigators also determined Gryphon wrongly assumed its technical instructors were not subject to protections in the Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards and McNamara-O’Hara Service Contract acts. By doing so, the employer failed to pay them overtime when they worked more than 40 hours in a workweek and applicable health and welfare, and holiday wages, as the laws required.

The division recovered $228,224 in back wages and fringe benefits for 35 affected workers as a result of its investigation.

“Employers who enter into federal contracts understand they must pay employees, whose work the contract funds, all of the wages and benefits these employees are legally due,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Richard Blaylock in Raleigh, North Carolina. “Taxpayers expect federal contractors to comply with all laws governing the contract and, when they don’t, the U.S. Department of Labor will hold these companies accountable and prevent them from gaining an unfair advantage over competitors who abide by the law.”

The U.S. Special Operations Command awarded Gryphon Group Security Solutions a contract to train soldiers at Fort Bragg and other military installations on equipment use, evasive and tactical driving and medical evacuation.

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.