Employees Recover More Than $78K In Back Wages by Contractor Who Committed Wage Theft

Slidell, LA (Workerscompensation.com)- An investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) led to Superior Air Conditioning and Heating LLC, out of Slidell, Louisiana, aying $78,038 in owed back wages and fringe benefits to 12 employees. The company had violated the requirements of the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts (DBRA) and the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), authorities said.

Investigators discovered that the company, which operated as Superior Services AC, Electric & Plumbing, had failed to pay some of its employees the required prevailing wage, overtime, and fringe benefits on a project subject to DBRA requirements. It was also determined that the employer classified sheet metal, electrical workers, and plumbers as laborers, which was inaccurate. Authorities said that only wages that were applicable to general laborers and not the rates that were associated with their actual job classification resulted in Superior Services getting away with paying lower wages than what was required by law.

In a press release, , stated, “Employees who perform work subject to federal prevailing wage rates must be paid the wages and benefits associated with the proper job classification,” said Troy Mouton, director of the New Orleans Wage and Hour Division District. “Misclassifying skilled workers as laborers, and paying those workers less than the applicable prevailing wage rate is an avoidable violation which creates an unfair advantage for employers who pay lower wages than the law requires.”

Superior Air Conditioning and Heating LLC performed work as a subcontractor on a residential building project in Slidell. Indiana-based Herman & Kittle Properties Inc. held that prime contract. The DBRA requires contractors and subcontractors performing work on federal and specific federally funded projects to pay workers prevailing wage rates and fringe benefits as determined by the Secretary of Labor and as included in their contracts.

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