US DOL recovers greater than $ 1 million for fuel pipeline staff in Georgia and 4 different states – archyde

Henkels & McCoy Inc. tried to disguise wages as reimbursement payments

BLUE BELL, PA – Henkels & McCoy Inc., an oil and gas contractor, paid more than $ 1 million in arrears to hundreds of employees, following a federal court order in Pennsylvania that upheld the results of an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor had violated employee protection laws.

The U.S. District Court order for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia resulted in Henkels & McCoy Inc. paying $ 1,085,830 in arrears and non-overtime damages to 362 workers in 11 workplaces. The court ordered the national infrastructure contractor to pay $ 542,915 in arrears and an equal amount of liquidated damages to affected employees who work as machine operators and workers in Georgia, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, New York and West Virginia.

The lawsuit was followed by an investigation by the department’s payroll department that found the employer violated overtime and record-keeping obligations under the Fair Labor Standards Act. The department identified the violations that have occurred in the construction of interstate natural gas pipelines and other natural gas facilities in the five states.

Henkels & McCoy violated the FLSA when the company:

• Employees who have worked more than 40 hours in a working week have not paid the required overtime rates. These employees worked an average 60 hour week.
• Failure to take into account daily flat-rate payments to workers when calculating their overtime rates. The employer referred to these payments as “daily allowances” even though they were not related to actual travel or labor costs.
• However, if the operators paid a daily flat rate, which was referred to as “truck rental wages”, these payments were again not taken into account in the operators’ regular tariffs when calculating their overtime pay. The employer paid these flat rates to the operators for each working day, regardless of whether the operators actually used their own vehicles for work-related purposes.
• Failure to keep accurate records of employees’ travel or labor costs when employees used private vehicles for work-related purposes.

“Busy construction workers deserve to be paid for every penny they make,” said Jessica Looman, assistant manager of the payroll department. “The US Department of Labor holds employers accountable, and we hope that other employers in this industry will use the outcome of this investigation as an opportunity to review their own wage practices to ensure they are complying with the law.”

“This employer paid significant costs for breaking the law and trying to disguise wages as reimbursements,” said assistant labor attorney Elena Goldstein. “This lawsuit shows that the US Department of Labor is committed to protecting workers and will use all means at our disposal.”

Henkels & McCoy Inc. was founded in 1923 and is headquartered in Blue Bell. It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Henkels & McCoy Group Inc. The 11 sites studied by the division are in Sweet Valley, Hughesville, and Honesdale, Pennsylvania; Montrose and Hopewell Junction, New York; East Granby, Connecticut; Ripley and Culloden, West Virginia and Adairsville, Georgia.

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For more information about the FLSA and other laws enforced by the department, call the toll-free line at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Learn more about the Payroll & Hourly department, including a search tool to use if you think you could

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