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Wage and Hour Division (WHD)
Press Releases
U.S. Department of Labor |
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WINTER PARK, Fla. -- The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered $68,778 in back wages for 14 employees of Quinco Electrical Inc., following an investigation by the department’s Wage and Hour Division that found the company violated provisions of the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts and the Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act.
Quinco Electrical Inc. is a Winter Park-based commercial electrical contractor with offices in Irving, Texas, Raleigh, N.C., and Douglasville, Ga., that employs more than 500 employees.
“Workers employed on federally-funded projects deserve their full pay as required under federal law,” said Will Garnitz, director of the Wage and Hour Division’s South Florida District Office. “This action underscores the Labor Department’s commitment to ensure proper prevailing wages and benefits are paid to the many men and women working on federal contracts.”
The Davis-Bacon Act requires all contractors and subcontractors performing work on federal and certain federally-funded projects to pay their laborers and mechanics the proper prevailing wage rates and fringe benefits as determined by the secretary of labor.
Investigators found that the company failed to maintain an allowable ratio of apprentices to journeymen electrical workers on the jobsite and improperly classified electricians as pipe layers, resulting in those workers receiving less than the required Davis-Bacon prevailing wage rates. Employees who were misclassified are receiving $68,541 in back wages.
In addition, the investigation revealed that the company had violated provisions of the Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act when it made overtime premium payments to employees who were misclassified under Davis-Bacon. As a result, five employees who had been misclassified are receiving a total of $237 in premium pay for the overtime hours they worked because the company had calculated their overtime pay using a rate that was lower than the rate required under Davis-Bacon.
The Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act applies to contractors and subcontractors with federal service contracts and federally-funded and assisted construction contracts exceeding $100,000. Covered contracts include those entered into by the U.S., any agency or instrumentality of the U.S., any territory of the U.S. or the District of Columbia.
For more information on the Davis-Bacon Act, Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act, and other federal laws, contact the Wage and Hour Division’s South Florida District Office at 305-596-9874 or call the division’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Information is also available at http://www.dol.gov/whd.
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