Dive Brief:
- Eleven Florida-based roofing companies are paying a combined $239,893 in back pay to 259 employees for Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) violations stemming from Hurricane Irma rebuilding efforts. Two also paid more than $11,000 in liquidated damages each. The companies violated the law's overtime and recordkeeping provisions, the U.S. Department of Labor said.
- Each of the companies paid workers a “piece rate” that did not take into account the number of hours actually worked and resulted in overtime violations, according to DOL. The employers also violated the FLSA’s recordkeeping requirements when they failed to record the actual number of hours the employees worked.
- Crown Roofing LLC, Currier Roofing Co. Inc., D Peck Roofing Inc., Dura-Loc Roofing Systems, Saint Raphael Roofing Inc., and San Carlos Roofing Co., all based in Fort Myers were all in violation of the law, DOL said, as were Campbell Roofing & Sheet Metal of FL Inc. and Roofing by Homeplus Inc., both in Cape Coral, Clyde Johnson Contracting & Roofing, Inc. of Clewiston, Gulf Coast Roofing Company Inc. of Naples and Kelly Roofing LLC of Bonita Springs.
Dive Insight:
Unless exempt, employees covered by the FLSA must be paid time-and-one-half their regular rate of pay for hours worked beyond 40 in a workweek. The law also requires that covered employers maintain certain records, including employees' hours worked and rate of pay.
In the wake of a natural disaster, there is often a critical need for construction professionals to rebuild devastated areas. There was a boom in construction training during the weeks that followed Hurricane Harvey in Texas. Lone Star College added three to six-week courses in framing, drywalling, roofing and sheet-metal work to meet the demand. Community colleges in Florida also helped with the recovery from Hurricane Irma; one offered tool-stocked mobile units to deliver training to students unable to commute to the campus.
But federal employment laws remain in place during national disasters; employees can't "volunteer" to help with recovery, for example. Experts suggest that compliance efforts be included in disaster planning, so an employer isn't caught off guard by these issues.
