$78,182 in Back Wages and Liquidated Damages for Wage and Hour Violations by Landscaping Company

 
Thursday, March 7, 2013
 

Cyrilla Landscaping & Supply Co., doing business as Cyrilla Landscaping, has paid a total of $39,091 in back wages to 29 employees following an investigation by the U.S. Labor Department’s Wage and Hour Division that found violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act’s overtime provisions. The company was also required to pay an additional $39,091 in liquidated damages, which will also be disbursed to the affected employees.

An investigation conducted by the division’s Pittsburgh District Office found that the company violated the FLSA’s overtime provisions by paying workers “straight time” wages for hours worked over 40 in a week, rather than time and one-half their regular rates of pay, as required. The employer moved overtime hours to a separate payroll and paid for those hours with separate checks. The investigation also disclosed that the employer paid some employees in cash, without recording their hours worked or their payment received, in violation of the FLSA’s record-keeping requirements. Additionally, payroll records were not maintained for the required length of time.

The firm agreed to full future compliance with the FLSA and agreed to pay the back wages and liquidated damages found due in full. The FLSA provides that employers who violate the law are, as a general rule, liable to employees for their back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages. Liquidated damages are paid directly to the affected employees.

Cyrilla Landscaping is a full-service commercial and residential landscaping provider in Pittsburgh and the surrounding communities.

The FLSA requires that covered employees be paid at least the federal minimum wage of $7.25 for all hours worked, plus time and one-half their regular rates, including commissions, bonuses and incentive pay, for hours worked beyond 40 in a seven-day week. In general, hours worked includes all time an employee must be on duty, or on the employer’s premises or at any other prescribed place of work, from the beginning of the first principal work activity to the end of the last principal activity of the workday. Additionally, the law requires that accurate records of employees’ wages, hours and other conditions of employment be maintained.

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