Last year, the DOL announced an eye-popping $2 million Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) settlement with Hutco, Inc, a labor services firm, for Hutco’s miscalculation of “per diem” payments to temporary workers and contractors. The DOL found that Hutco “mischaracterized certain wages as ‘per diem’ payments and impermissibly excluded these wages when calculating overtime premiums, thus denying employees earned overtime compensation.” This month, the same New Orleans District Office of the DOL’s Wage and Hour Division announced a $1.6 million settlement with another employment agency, B&D Contracting, for “per diem” violations for employees under the FLSA. The continued virtual “perp walks” highlight the heightened scrutiny that DOL is giving per diem payments.
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