Trucking firm ordered to pay back wages

ATLANTA, GA (DEPARTMENT OF LABOR RELEASE) – After an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD), Postal Fleet Services Inc. – based in Saint Augustine, Florida – will pay $329,057 in back wages and benefits to 53 employees for violating requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and the McNamara-O’Hara Service Contract Act (SCA).

WHD investigators determined Postal Fleet Services Inc. failed to pay drivers the prevailing wage rates required by the SCA for work they performed on a contract for the U.S. Postal Service to haul mail in Montgomery, Alabama and Tupelo, Mississippi. The violations occurred when the employer failed to pay drivers for time they spent working before their scheduled shifts sorting mail, and for time they spent driving company trucks from one city to another between their local routes. The employer also failed to pay employees the fringe benefits required by the SCA, and failed to maintain records of the hours employees worked, a violation of the FLSA.

“No federal contractor should gain an economic advantage by paying employees below the prevailing wages and fringe benefits their contract requires,” said Wage and Hour Regional Administrator Juan Coria, in Atlanta, Georgia. “Federal service contracts spell out employers’ responsibilities when they bid on these jobs. We encourage all employers to review their legal obligations and to contact the Wage and Hour Division for compliance assistance. Violations like these can be avoided.”

The SCA requires contractors and subcontractors performing services on prime contracts in excess of $2,500 to pay service employees in various classes no less than the wage rates and fringe benefits found prevailing in the locality, or the rates, including prospective increases, contained in a predecessor contractor’s collective bargaining agreement.