The Department of Labor ("DOL") announced in late 2012 it was launching a multi-year wage and hour enforcement initiative on Marcellus Shale contractors operating in Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Following that announcement, DOL has issued several reports about the success of its efforts to recover what it describes as "a fair day's pay."

The most recent DOL press release involved investigators from the Wage and Hour Division Offices. DOL announced it had secured agreements from employers to pay almost $4.5 million in back wages to 5,310 employees, primarily to remedy overtime wage violations.

Examples of violations cited by DOL included the misclassification of some salaried employees as being exempt from overtime and the failure to include production bonuses paid to hourly employees in the regular rate for purposes of calculating overtime.  

DOL attributes the prevalence of violations in part to the fractured nature of the extraction industry, which frequently involves the use of dozens of small contractors performing work on one job site and other contractors providing ancillary services away from the site. Those contractors are said to face significant competitive bidding pressures, which increases the likelihood of cutting corners.

The DOL enforcement initiative continues, and as can be seen from the most recent example, the costs of noncompliance can be substantial. DOL audits typically look back two years and in the case of willful violations, lost wages and other damages, including double damages, can be sought for three years. Employers must continue to be proactive in installing and monitoring FLSA-compliant pay practices and provisions. 

What can you do in the face of this Fair Labor Standards Act initiative? Click here to find out.