Securitas Security Services USA Inc. — a security services company based in Anaheim, California — has paid $176,810 in back wages to 226 employees for violating the Fair Labor Standards Act’s overtime and record-keeping requirements at four Hawaiian airports. The employer has also paid $22,000 in penalties.
Securitas Security Services USA Inc. — a security services company based in Anaheim, California — has paid $176,810 in back wages to 226 employees for violating the Fair Labor Standards Act’s overtime and record-keeping requirements at four Hawaiian airports. The employer has also paid $22,000 in penalties.
U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division investigators found the company, which is contracted to provide security services at the airports, made automatic deductions from employees’ recorded work time for unpaid meal breaks despite frequent interruptions requiring the employees to return to duty, according to a media release. When employees return to work and are not completely relieved of duty during a meal break, employers must pay for interrupted breaks as work time.
Investigators also found the employer failed to keep accurate records reflecting interrupted breaks, resulting in FLSA record-keeping violations.
“The U.S. Department of Labor is committed to ensuring that employers pay workers all the wages they have legally earned,” said Wage and Hour District Director Terence Trotter in Honolulu. “We encourage other employers to use the results of this investigation as an opportunity to review their own pay practices to ensure they comply with the law, and avoid violations like those found in this case.”
The violations were found at Ellison Onizuka Kona International Airport at Keahole, Daniel K. Inouye International Airport in Honolulu, Lihue Airport on Kauai and Kahului Airport on Maui.
For more information about the FLSA and other laws enforced by the Wage and Hour Division, contact the toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243).
