Wage and Hour Division (WHD)

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WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division has recovered nearly $1.5 million in back wages for approximately 2,600 workers who cleaned up and renovated the U.S. naval facilities in Gulfport, Miss., and Belle Chasse, La., following Hurricane Katrina.

“This administration is committed to ensuring that workers are paid all the wages they have earned,” said Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao. “We have recovered nearly $1.5 million for the workers who’ve been involved in the cleanup and restoration of these naval facilities in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina damage.”

The workers were employed by 107 subcontractors to Virginia-based KBR Inc., and the work performed was covered by the Service Contract Act (SCA), the Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act (CWHSSA) and the Davis-Bacon Act (DBA). The SCA and DBA require the payment of locally prevailing wages and fringe benefits on federal service and construction contracts. The CWHSSA sets forth overtime pay requirements for employees working on federal contracts.

The Wage and Hour Division found that the subcontractors had failed to pay required wages and fringe benefits and, in some cases, proper overtime for hours worked beyond 40 in a workweek. The agency determined that 2,623 workers at the Naval Construction Battalion Center in Gulfport and the Naval Air Station/Joint Reserve Base in Belle Chasse were due approximately $1,475,000 in back wages.

KBR and many of its subcontractors cooperated with the Labor Department’s investigation to ensure that all employees who were due back wages were compensated. Of the total back wages, the subcontractors paid approximately $670,000 directly to the affected employees. The prime contractor, KBR, paid the balance of $800,000 to the department for disbursement to the remaining workers.

WHD is attempting to locate workers who are no longer employed by the subcontractors to pay them back wages they are due. Individuals who believe they are due back wages for work performed at the two relevant naval facilities should check the WHD back wage employee locator on the agency’s secure website at https://www.dol-esa.gov/emploc.

For more information about the SCA, CWHSSA, DBA and other laws administered by the Wage and Hour Division, call the department’s toll-free help line at (866) 4US-WAGE (487-9243) or visit the Internet atwww.wagehour.dol.gov.

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