Wage and Hour Division (WHD)

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CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas -- The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division has filed a lawsuit against Asset Protection & Security Services LP in Corpus Christi for failing to pay 234 current and former security guards $147,567 in fringe benefits and back wages under the provisions of the Service Contract Act (SCA) and the Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act (CWHSSA).

The complaint was filed before the Department of Labor’s Office of Administrative Law Judges following an investigation by the Wage and Hour Division in San Antonio covering the period from April 25, 2003, to April 22, 2005, which found that Asset Protection and Security Services failed to pay the prevailing wage rate and fringe benefits to service employees under federal contracts awarded the company.

“This employer was not properly paying its workers overtime and required health and welfare benefits,” said Cynthia Watson, the Wage and Hour Division’s regional administrator for the Southwest. “Asset Protection & Security Services also failed to compensate employees during training. These practices are unacceptable.”

Asset Protection & Security Services provides security services to the Port Isabel Service Detention Center in Los Fresnos, Texas, and has a contract with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Under the SCA, contractors and subcontractors performing on federal services contracts in excess of $2,500 must pay their service workers no less than the wages and fringe benefits prevailing in the locality.

The company failed to compensate employees during training time, which resulted in overtime violations under the CWHSSA. Under that law, security guards working on federal contracts must receive time and one-half their regular rates of pay for hours worked beyond 40 hours in a week.

The Labor Department’s 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 fiscal year 2001.

For more information about the SCA and other federal prevailing wages laws, call the San Antonio District Office of the Wage and Hour Division at 210-308-4515 or the Department of Labor’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Information is also available on the Internet at www.wagehour.dol.gov.

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