Labor Department Recovers More Than $1.4 Million in Back Wages and Damages
DOL found that Danica Group LLC underpaid workers and misclassified some as independent contractors.
An investigation by the Labor Department's Wage and Hour Division found that contractors of Danica Group LLC violated the overtime and recordkeeping requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act. Specifically, they paid employees straight time wages rather than time and one-half when employees worked beyond 40 hours in a workweek, and issued separate paychecks for the overtime hours from a cash account.
Additionally, they misclassified at least 25 employees as independent contractors, paying them a weekly salary that did not compensate the employees as independent contractors, paying them a weekly salary that did not compensate the employees at time and one-half when employees worked beyond 40 hours in a workweek. The defendants also frequently paid many employees late, sometimes requiring workers to wait several weeks to be paid. Finally, they maintained incomplete and inaccurate payroll records.
"Hundreds of workers were denied their lawful pay when they were not paid promptly and correctly or were misclassified as independent contractors," said Dr. David Weil, administrator for the Wage and Hour Division. "The misclassification of employees as independent contractors deprives workers of wages and benefits they are entitled to under the law, thereby hurting our economy. It also leads to unfair competition because businesses that play by the rules operate at a disadvantage to those that don't."