Staffing company pays $127K to maintenance workers who were misclassified as independent contractors and denied overtime

An investigation conducted by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division has discovered that Lucero Aerospace Staffing Solutions LLC misclassified 26 workers as independent contractors and denied them overtime wages. The workers were employed by the Dothan, Alabama, staffing company and worked at an aviation maintenance shop. According to the DOL, workers were paid straight-time rates for all hours and failed to pay the additional half-time rate required for hours over 40 in a workweek. The company also violated the Fair Labor Standards Act by failing to pay one worker the federal minimum wage, which is $7.25 per hour. The DOL has recovered $127,249 in back wages and liquidated damages for the affected employees.

In a recent quote, Wage and Hour Division District Director Kenneth Stripling said, “Employers are legally obligated to pay and classify their workers correctly and to keep accurate records of all time worked by these individuals. Misclassification deprives workers of their full wages, benefits and protections, cheats law-abiding employers and harms communities when payroll taxes are not paid.”