If you are a construction worker and you were wrongly denied payment for overtime or paid less than minimum wage, you may be eligible to file a lawsuit against your employer and claim compensation for income loss and other damages.

If you have questions or are concerned that your employer is mistreating you concerning your payments, you may need to consult an Ohio workers’ compensation lawyer to help you protect your right to fair remuneration.

People working in the construction industry are doing a significant job. Even more, they usually undertake physically demanding job responsibilities and work long hours. Unfortunately, construction workers are often victims of wage violations.

Ohio Overtime Payment

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requires that employers pay their employees at least the federal minimum wage for all hours worked. Furthermore, it requires the payment of overtime for all hours of work over 40 per workweek, at a rate of time-and-one-half of the regular employee’s hourly rate.

There is no restriction by the FLSA on the number of hours a person over sixteen may work every workweek. An employee who worked over 40 hours in a workweek should get overtime pay at a rate no less than time and one-half of their regular pay rate.

Federally Funded Projects

The Davis Bacon Act

There are construction projects like building or repairing public buildings and highways that are federally funded. The workers of these projects are protected by the Davis Bacon Act, which requires prevailing wages. The term prevailing wage means the average salary of the laborers located in the same geographic area and having similar job descriptions. The employers must be informed about what the Davis Bacon Act determines for their location and industry’s prevailing wage. Furthermore, they are required to post on the job site the prevailing wage determination for their project. The workers and mechanics that perform their job directly on the prevailing wage job site have to be paid at the prevailing wage rate for all the hours they work there. Also, they are obliged to submit their laborers’ payroll records to the job site every week. Therefore, their employees must be paid for prevailing wage work on a weekly basis.

Usually, the prevailing wages are the same or a bit higher than the regular hourly rate. The employer can make payment for the prevailing wages total amount as cash wages, or pay a combination of the value of the cash wages and the value of any bona fide fringe benefits offered.

Violations Of Overtime

The overtime rate paid to the workers is one-and-one-half times the regular hourly rate for hours worked over forty during a seven-day workweek.

Under the FLSA, it is against the law when employers try to avoid paying overtime and stretch the seven-day workweek to fourteen days and eighty hours.

For example, if a laborer gets paid every two weeks, and on the first week, he works thirty-five hours, while on the second week, he works forty-five hours, he must get paid overtime for the five hours he worked overtime during the second week. If the employer pays the employee for the eighty hours as a total, it is considered a violation.

Furthermore, if the laborer works at a prevailing wage job site, then the prevailing wage rate must be calculated for the overtime.

Sometimes employees work at more than one job site, and the hourly rates may vary because not all sites are prevailing wage sites. In such a case, the calculating formula may get more complex.

Employers must be keeping tracking records of the hours each laborer works in each job site separately. Otherwise, they may run into problematic situations.

Misclassifying Construction Workers As Independent Contractors

Employers misclassify their laborers as independent contractors mainly to save money. Independent contractors are not included in the minimum wage and overtime instructions of the FLSA. Since construction workers can undoubtedly be regarded as employees under the law, misclassifying them as independent contractors to avoid paying the minimum wage for their hours worked or their overtime exceeding forty hours in a workweek may be considered a violation.

Contact A Workers’ Compensation Attorney

If you are a construction worker and have concerns that your employer is improperly calculating the hours you worked, you may consult an Ohio workers’ compensation attorney.

Call us at Workers’ Compensation Lawyers law firm to request your free consultation. Our team of experienced workers’ comp attorneys can pursue your case to get the money you deserve.