On Tuesday September 22, 2015, oil and gas service provider Halliburton came to an agreement with the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) to pay more than $18 million in unpaid overtime wages to over 1,000 of Halliburton employees across the nation. The DOL, in a news release, called it “one of the largest recoveries of overtime wages in recent years.”
Halliburton is one of the largest oil and gas service providers in the world. Halliburton has more than 70,000 employees, with headquarters in Houston and the United Arab Emirates.
The DOL’s Wage and Hour Division conducted an investigation into Halliburton as part of a compliance initiative in the oil and gas industry. The DOL’s compliance initiative seeks to “educate employers about how wage violations hurt their industry and our nation’s economy.”
It was discovered that Halliburton misclassified 28 job positions as overtime exempt. The positions include salaried positions such as “field service representatives, pipe recovery specialists, drilling tech advisors, perforating specialists, and reliability tech specialists.” Halliburton did not pay employees in these positions overtime wages for hours they worked over 40 per workweek, though they were rightfully entitled to overtime pay under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). It was also discovered that Halliburton failed to keep accurate records of employees’ work hours.
Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez stated, “This settlement will put millions of dollars where they belong- in the pockets of hardworking people and their families.”
We are currently litigating a case against Exploration Drilling, Inc., a similar company in the oil and gas industry. The lawsuit is filed on behalf of all flowback operators and other similarly situated employees who work or have worked in excess of 40 hours per work week at Exploration Drilling nationwide. The lawsuit alleges Exploration drilling has failed to pay overtime to flowback operators, who often work over 40 hours per week. Anyone who works or has worked at Exploration Drilling in the last three years should contact us to discuss your rights under the FLSA.
The employment lawyers at Fitapelli & Schaffer, LLP are strongly committed to protecting the rights of hard working employees. We are seeking to represent employees in the oil and gas industry who are not paid in accordance with the FLSA. Additionally, If you believe you have been misclassified by your employer as overtime exempt, please call the New York employment lawyers at Fitapelli & Schaffer, LLP at (212) 300-0375 or visit our website at www.fslawfirm.com.