Wage and Hour Division (WHD)

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SAN FRANCISCO -- Pacific Stucco, a Las Vegas-based lath and plastering construction contractor, has agreed to pay $435,000 in back wages to 675 current and former employees following an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division. Investigators found that the lathers, who worked as many as 60 hours a week, did not receive overtime pay and sometimes earned less than minimum wage.

Pacific Stucco also failed to properly record the hours of work for these employees, who were paid on a piece rate basis. The settlement follows a 2004 complaint filed by the department in the U.S. District Court in Nevada to collect the back wages due for work performed between June 2001 and August 2006. The department found similar problems in a prior investigation of the company covering work performed over a two-year period ending in May 1998.

“The Consulate of Mexico in Las Vegas provided invaluable assistance in pursuing this case,” said George Friday, regional administrator for the Wage and Hour Division in San Francisco. Friday said that his Las Vegas office worked with the consulate and other partners in the Employment Education and Outreach (EMPLEO) initiative to pursue this case.

EMPLEO is a joint effort between local business and community organizations, state and federal government agencies and the Consulate of Mexico in Las Vegas to help Spanish-speaking workers and employers understand federal and state workplace rights and responsibilities. Partners in EMPLEO, which include the Wage and Hour Division, have established a local toll-free help line,1-(800) 289-1331. Callers to the help line are assisted by volunteers who refer them to the appropriate EMPLEO partner for assistance.

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requires that covered employees be paid at least the federal minimum wage and receive overtime at one-and-one-half times their regular rate of pay for hours worked over 40 per week.

The Wage and Hour Division offers a Web site to help employers, www.wagehour.dol.gov. The site provides more information about the FLSA and an on-line tool for determining overtime eligibility -- the elaws FLSA Overtime Security Advisor -- at www.dol.gov/elaws/overtime.htm. For additional information about the FLSA, call the Wage and Hour office in Las Vegas at (702) 388-6001, or the Department of Labor’s toll-free help line at 1 (866) 4US-WAGE (487-9243).

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