The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered more than $207,470 in back wages and damages for 157 workers after finding a Michigan-based electrical services contractor failed to pay proper overtime rates to workers at job sites in Arizona and Kentucky.
Investigators with the department’s Wage and Hour Division found that M.J. Electric LLC did not include non-discretionary bonuses in employees’ regular rate of pay when calculating overtime pay, a violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act. The investigation initially revealed the overtime violation at the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Paradise Simple Cycle Project in Drakesboro, Kentucky. The investigation was expanded after similar violations were found at an M.J. Electric project in Ehrenberg, Arizona.
In addition to collecting $207,470 in back wages and damages, the division assessed the company a $19,782 civil money penalty for a repeat FLSA violation. In 2018, the department investigated M.J. Electric and found the company violated federal law by not properly paying overtime on non-discretionary bonuses.
“The U.S. Department of Labor is committed to holding employers accountable, especially when they deny employees their hard-earned wages,” said Wage and Hour Division Acting District Director Wildali De Jésus in Louisville, Kentucky. “We urge employers who are unsure of their obligations to contact us for assistance to avoid compliance issues.”
A subsidiary of Quanta Services, M.J. Electric LLC is headquartered in Iron Mountain, Michigan. The contractor provides electrical services such as power line work and power generation throughout the U.S.