D&G Directional Drilling has just been sued by former laborers for unpaid wages. The drilling and pipeline construction company has been accused of failing to pay its labor hands in accordance with the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”). The collective action lawsuit is looking to recover unpaid overtime for labor hands and other non-exempt laborers in similar positions that have worked for this oil field services company throughout the United States.
The complaint alleges that the company pays its non-exempt laborers on an hourly basis as well additional wages every week that gets paid out on the same or sometimes a separate paycheck. These additional wages are included in year-end wage statements and are subject to applicable payroll taxes. Even though D&G Directional Drilling categorizes these workers as non-exempt employees entitled to overtime pay, they have allegedly failed to pay them their overtime correctly. D&G has allegedly failed to properly pay its non-exempt laborers overtime pay at 1.5 times their regular rate of pay. The workers contend that because the company did not factor in all their compensation which should have included their additional wages under the FLSA, their regular rate was not calculated correctly when paying overtime. As a result, these affected laborers who consistently worked way over 40 hours per week, have claimed that they have been significantly underpaid for their overtime hours worked.
Companies often fail to include all forms of payment when calculating your overtime rates. Whether it is per diems, bonuses or other additional wages, federal law requires they factor it into your regular rate of pay when calculating overtime. If you work or have worked for D&G Directional Drilling as a laborer and would like to know if you are eligible to participate in this lawsuit, or simply have questions about your pay working in the industry, do not hesitate to call our firm, Fitapelli & Schaffer, LLP, at (212) 300-0375. Additionally, feel free to contact us via our firm’s site here.
You can also view the filed complaint here.