Wage and Hour Division (WHD)

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ZUNI, N.M. -- Zuni Technology Inc. in Zuni has agreed to pay $389,315 in back wages and fringe benefits to 75 current and former information technology employees after an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division found the employees had not been properly paid as required by the McNamara-O’Hara Service Contract Act (SCA).

“This employer failed to pay proper wages and fringe benefits as required by the service contract,” said Cynthia Watson, the Wage and Hour Division’s southwestern regional administrator. “In this case, we are pleased that 75 employees will receive more than $389,000.”

Zuni Technology, owned and operated by the Zuni Pueblo, provides service contract work involving the conversion of hard copies of U.S. Department of Defense documents into an electronic format via scanning, zoning, proofing and styling. An investigation covering the two-year period from April 1, 2005, to March 31, 2007, determined that the company did not pay some employees the prevailing wage for all hours worked, and did not pay other employees fringe benefits to which they were entitled.

The SCA covers contracts entered into by federal agencies where the principal purpose of the contract is to furnish services in the United States through the use of “service employees.” The law requires that every federal service contract in excess of $2,500 contain a wage determination setting forth wages and fringe benefits prevailing in the locality or contained in the collective bargaining agreement of the predecessor contractor.

Back wages will be paid in full by May 2008 and the company has agreed to future SCA compliance.

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 last year 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 SCA and other federal prevailing wage laws, call the Department of Labor’s toll-free helpline at (866) 4US-WAGE (487-9243) or the Wage and Hour Division’s district office in Albuquerque, N.M., at (505) 245-2142. Information is also available on the Internet at www.wagehour.dol.gov.

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