According to the U.S. Department of
Labor, thousands of workers employed by contractors engaged in natural gas
extraction in the Marcellus Shale region of Pennsylvania
and West Virginia
An ongoing multi-year enforcement
initiative conducted by the agency’s Wage and Hour Division offices in Wilkes-Barre and Pittsburgh
The division’s investigators
attribute the labor violations in part to the industry’s structure.
The majority of violations were due
to improper payment of overtime. In some cases, employees’ production bonuses
were not included in the regular rate of pay to determine the correct overtime
rate of pay.
Investigators also found that some
salaried employees were incorrectly classified as exempt from the FLSA overtime
provision, and were not paid an overtime premium regardless of the number of
hours they worked.
Under the FLSA, all pay received by
employees during the workweek must be factored when determining the overtime
premium to be paid.
The ongoing enforcement initiative
began in 2012. In addition to the Pennsylvania
and West Virginia
The FLSA requires that covered
employees be paid at least the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour, as well
as time and one-half their regular rates for every hour they work beyond 40 per
week. The law also requires employers to maintain accurate records of
employees’ wages, hours and other conditions of employment, and prohibits
employers from retaliating against employees who exercise their rights under
the law.
