A Florida plumbing company got caught not paying overtime. It owed workers $145,000
A West Palm Beach plumbing company unclogged its checkbook to pay $145,297 in earned wages and liquidated damages to employees after a Department of Labor investigation uncovered Fair Labor Standards Act pay violations.
That money went to 46 workers, an average of $3,158.63 per worker.
Absolute Plumbing’s money didn’t flow properly, Labor’s Wage and Hour investigators found, because it paid workers at straight time rates, no matter how long they worked. And the company run by Robert Gugino, Anthony Gugino and Michael Gugino deducted 30 minutes from employees’ time on the clock as meal breaks, Labor said, “regardless of whether their schedules allowed them actually to take those breaks.”
Absolute also didn’t keep absolutely accurate records of the hours employees worked. This is a common violation in companies found to owe back pay.
Business that find they’ve violated minimum wage or overtime law can self-report through the Payroll Audit Independent Determination (PAID) program to settle things without litigation.
This story was originally published December 12, 2019 at 6:34 AM.
