A/C and plumbing company unlawfully clogged the money flow, pays $33,000 in owed wages
A Pasco County plumbing, heating and cooling company ponied up $33,795 in back wages after a Department of Labor investigation found overtime pay violations.
The $33,795 went to 57 employees of Bayonet Plumbing, Heating & Air Conditioning, averaging $592.89 per person.
State records say Robert Blankenship is the manager for Bayonet, which gave workers one check for the hours worked and another check for bonuses, commissions or extra work requested by customers. The latter pay wasn’t included in figuring overtime pay when necessary, resulting in OT pay violations.
But that wasn’t the only second job Bayonet used to skirt the rules. Some workers got paid for welding jobs done as an in-house side hustle along with their regular technician and installation jobs. Bayonet wouldn’t add the welding hours to the regular hours, so some workers didn’t get overtime pay when they deserved it.
“Employers must track and total all the hours employees work to ensure they are paid overtime as the law requires,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director James Schmidt. “Other employers should use the results of this investigation as an opportunity to review their own pay practices to make sure they are in compliance.”
This story was originally published October 24, 2019 at 7:15 AM.
