Wage and Hour Division (WHD)

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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. --

The U.S. Labor Department has recovered $148,316 in back wages for 579 employees of M and B Catering following a Wage and Hour Division investigation at Camp Shelby in Hattiesburg, Miss.

“The department is committed to ensuring that employers with federal service contracts pay workers according to provisions of the government contract labor standards,” said Oliver Peebles III, Wage and Hour’s Gulf Coast district director.

Hattiesburg-based M and B Catering has a contract with the U.S. Army to provide food services at several dining halls on the Camp Shelby military base. The Wage and Hour investigation, covering the period November 2003 through November 2005, was conducted under two laws administered by the agency -- the Service Contract Act and the Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act.

Wage and Hour investigators determined that the company failed to pay employees for attendance at required meetings and misclassified food service workers as dishwashers, which resulted in the use of an incorrect rate for calculating wages, overtime and fringe benefits.

Under the Service Contract Act, contractors with federal service contracts over $2,500 must pay their service workers no less than the wages and fringe benefits prevailing in the locality. The Labor Department issues wage determinations that provide the required wage rate and fringe benefits for each service occupation. These determinations are incorporated into covered federal contracts.

The Contract Work Hours Safety Standards Act requires that laborers and mechanics employed on certain federally-funded contracts be paid one-and-one-half times their regular rate of pay for all hours worked over 40 in a single workweek. Employers must also maintain accurate records of employees’ wages, hours and other conditions of employment.

For further information about the federal contract labor laws and other laws administered by the Wage and Hour Division, call the department’s toll-free help line at 1-866-4USWAGE (1-866-487-9243), visit the Wage and Hour Division Web site at www.wagehour.dol.gov, or contact the Gulf Coast district office at 955 22nd St. N., Suite 656, Birmingham, Ala.; phone: (205) 731-1305.

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