The Department of Labor has slapped the Rodin Group with a $55K penalty for violating employee’s rights.
After an investigation, the U.S. Department of Labor has recovered $481,357 from a Burbank paint and wall covering company that failed to pay its workers overtime wages. The paint company management had also lied to the federal investigators that the 117 workers did not work overtime.
However, the investigators established that the Rodin group employees worked on all weekends and sometimes, on double shifts during weekdays, exceeding 40 hours work week. The Wage and Hour Division at the department noted that the overtime for the workers ranged between 30 minutes to 72 hrs in a week.
The investigators also discovered that the company settled employee overtime dues in cash but did not include the time the employees spent on either travel or replenishing supplies. These violations informed the decision of the Wage and Hour Division to slap the paint company with a $55,042 penalty.
In Los Angeles, the Wage and Hour Division Assistant District Director Francisco Ocampo noted that their investigations established that the Rodin Group deliberately denied 117 employees their hard-earned overtime wages, thereby violating the Fair Labor Standards Act.
As a commercial painting and wall covering company, the Rodin Group in Burbank serves the Los Angeles area, including clients in Orange counties, Ventura, and San Bernardino. In these areas, they offer commercial painting services on both commercial and residential buildings in the area. The company has been in the business for years but the recent case exposes the weaknesses in its administration. We however did not get the management’s response on the matter.
In recent times, cases of employers denying their employees overtime wages have been on the rise. The authority has advised employees across the country to reach out to the Wage and Hour Division for help on the matter. Regardless of their immigration status, both the employers and employees can feel free calling the division to enquire about different matters. Fortunately, the division has a 24/7 customer service department that can respond to your queries at any time of the day or night. The customer service personnel can respond in more than 200 languages through the agency’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243).
Users can also confirm that the details with the agency are correct through the timesheet app that is available for both android and iOS.