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.”
About the Author
Alexis GajewskiAlexis Gajewski
Senior Content Strategist
Alexis Gajewski is a manufacturing writer and editor with nearly 20 years of experience covering the people, practices, and technologies that keep industrial facilities running. For more than a decade, she served as Senior Content Strategist for Plant Services, creating content for plant managers, engineers, and maintenance professionals on a variety of industrial topics.
During her tenure, Alexis worked to develop the brand’s digital strategy and helped launch and produce Great Question: A Manufacturing Podcast. She also created The Lighter Side of Manufacturing, a weekly blog that explored the inventive and sometimes humorous side of the industry.
Alexis co-founded Influential Women in Manufacturing, a recognition program that honored 49 women in its first two years, earned an industry award for Best Product Launch, and received a proclamation from Illinois Governor JB Pritzker and a commendation from U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth.
She also led newsroom operations and development at a large media company where she set editorial standards, developed training curriculum, and helped support AI adoption for more than 150 editors across 80+ brands spanning manufacturing, industrial processing, automation, and more.
Additionally, Alexis works as a freelance writer and editor, and her areas of interest include continuous improvement, the skilled workforce, and the role of emerging technology on the plant floor.
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