Hutco Inc., a large industrial services employment agency, has agreed to pay $1.91 million in back wages to 2,267 employees assigned to client work sites in Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas, the Department of Labor announced Tuesday.
An investigation by the department's Wage and Hour Division found that the Broussard, La.-based company used improper pay and record-keeping practices that resulted in employees being denied overtime compensation in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act.
"Employers cannot avoid their legal responsibility to pay overtime by using evasive practices that seek to undermine labor laws and deny workers their rightful wages," acting Secretary of Labor Seth D. Harris said in a statement. "As a result of our investigation, not only is nearly $2 million in unpaid wages going into the pockets of the workers who earned it, but today's agreement will also ensure the company's future compliance with the FLSA."
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Hutco, the government said, mischaracterized certain wages as "per diem" payments and wrongly excluded these wages when calculating overtime premiums, thus denying employees earned overtime compensation.
As part of its settlement, Hutco has promised to stay compliant with the law.
Hutco provides skilled and unskilled labor to clients throughout the U.S. in industries such as vessel construction, oil field fabrication, warehousing and distribution, manufacturing and other industries. The employees entitled to receive overtime back wages as a result of the department's investigation worked as welders, fitters, tackers, electricians, blasters, painters, forklift operators and warehouse personnel.
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