Wage and Hour Division (WHD)

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GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas -- Eagle Irrigation and Landscape Services Inc. in Grand Prairie has paid $112,065 after an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division found that 97 former and current irrigation and landscape installation workers did not receive overtime pay as required by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

“This employer misclassified workers as independent contractors instead of employees,” said Cynthia Watson, regional administrator for the Wage and Hour Division in the Southwest. “We are pleased that 97 workers received the full wages to which they were entitled.”

The investigation, covering the period from May 23, 2005, to May 23, 2007, found that Eagle Irrigation and Landscape Services, which provides residential irrigation and landscape installation services, paid straight time for all hours worked over 40 in a workweek. The company also failed to maintain required recordkeeping.

In addition to payment of all back wages due, the company has agreed to future FLSA compliance.

The FLSA requires that covered employees be paid at least the federal minimum wage for all hours worked, plus time and one-half their regular rates of pay for hours worked more than 40 per week, unless otherwise exempt. For purposes of the FLSA, there are a number of factors for determining whether an individual is an independent contractor or an employee. In this case, the Wage and Hour Division found that the company’s workers did not meet the legal factors for independent contractor status.

The Wage and Hour Division concluded 31,987 compliance actions and recovered more than $171 million in back wages for more than 246,000 employees in fiscal year 2006. Back-wage collections in fiscal year 2006 represent a 30 percent increase over back wages collected in fiscal year 2001. The number of workers receiving back wages has increased by 14 percent since 2001.

For more information about the FLSA and other federal wage laws, call the U.S. Department of Labor’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243) or the Wage and Hour Division’s Dallas District Office at 817-861-2150. Information is also available on the Internet at www.wagehour.dol.gov.

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