C&B Electrical Contractors of Florida Inc. has agreed to pay $124,638 in back wages to 59 workers after an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division found violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act’s overtime and record-keeping provisions.

Investigators from the Jacksonville District Office determined that C&B Electrical Contractors failed to pay overtime to employees working more than 40 hours in a workweek. The firm paid employees on a piece rate, which is permissible under the FLSA, but one and one-half times their regular rate of pay for all hours worked over 40 is still required. Additionally, the employer failed to maintain accurate records of hours worked and payments made to its employees.

In addition to paying the back wages, C& B Electrical Contractors, which provides residential, new construction, warranty and service electrical work throughout Central Florida, agreed to comply with the overtime requirements, and to keep accurate time and payroll records. The company has also decided to simplify its pay practices by setting an hourly rate for all employees.

The FLSA requires that covered, nonexempt employees be paid at least the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour for all hours worked, plus time and one-half their regular rates, including commissions, bonuses and incentive pay, for hours worked beyond 40 per workweek. Simply paying employees a salary, a piece rate or a day rate does not exempt them from overtime protections. 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.