A Nevada landscaper failed to record workers’ wages which amounted to more than $88,000 in overtime pay, according to a recent federal investigation.
Findings from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division state H&H Landscape, located in Reno, Nev., paid only regular rates to 57 employees for those overtime hours worked. The business has reportedly been fined $29,640 while $88,957 in back wages were recovered for affected employees.
A Department of Labor statement emphasizes extreme heat peaking at 90 degrees F faced by the workers on a daily basis.
Investigators determine H&H Landscape violated the Fair Labor Standards Act by paying affected workers their regular hourly pay rates in cash for hours over 40 in a week and did not record all hours worked, also an FLSA violation.
“Landscaping work is hard, harder still when temperatures soar. H&H Landscape’s employees have the right to be paid all the wages they’ve earned and their employer has a legal obligation to pay them,” said Wage and Hour Division assistant district director Sylvia Argueta in Las Vegas. “The U.S. Department of Labor found that H&H Landscape shortchanged nearly 60 workers of wages they depend on to care for themselves and their families and willfully failed to record all of the hours worked in an attempt to avoid paying overtime.”
In the fiscal year 2021, the Wage and Hour Division recovered more than $1.2 million for more than 1,000 people employed in the landscaping services industry, among the division’s low-wage, high violations. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects demand for grounds maintenance workers to grow 8 percent by 2030 and about 173,200 job openings each year, on average.
“In addition to denying workers their full wages, employers who violate federal labor laws also gain an unfair competitive advantage over those who abide by the law,” Argueta added. “Employers are struggling these days to fill the positions they need to operate their businesses which gives law-abiding employers a better chance to retain and recruit the people they need.”
