US Department of Labor recovers $109K in back wages, benefits from Maryland contractor that underpaid 55 workers at Eglin AFB

Employer:   Crystal Enterprises Inc.

Employer address:    10837 Lanham Severn Road, Glenn Dale, MD 20769

Investigation findings: A U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division investigation determined that Crystal Enterprises Inc. failed to pay the required prevailing wage and health and welfare benefits to employees working at a U.S. Air Force training center dining facility on Eglin Air Force Base in Florida, a violation of the McNamara-O’Hara Service Contract Act. By doing so, the employer also paid workers lower rates of pay for holidays and sick leave and vacation time used. 

Recoveries: $109,127 in back wages for 55 employees.

Quote: “Government contracts come with stipulations to ensure workers are paid correctly, and employers must adhere to those requirements when bidding on and obtaining those contracts. This includes ensuring the proper job classifications and rates of pay are followed,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Vilma Bell in Orlando, Florida. “These workers provided the critical labor needed to feed service men and women on this military base. They deserve to take home every dollar they earn.”

“Employers with questions about the standards required of them when they enter into federally funded contracts can contact us for help or find government contract compliance assistance information on our website,” Bell added. 

Background: The U.S. Air Force subcontracted Crystal Enterprises Inc. to perform full food services at the training center dining facility on Eglin Air Force Base, Florida. 

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 and employers can call the division confidentially with questions or concerns – regardless of where they are from – and the division can speak with callers in more than 200 languages. Help ensure hours worked and pay are accurate by downloading the department’s Android and iOS Timesheet App for free in English or Spanish. 

The Service Contract Act requires contractors and subcontractors performing services on prime contracts in excess of $2,500 to pay their workers employed under the contract no less than the local prevailing wages and fringe benefits for corresponding work on similar projects in the area.