A security guard has filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida against Wackenhut Corporation (“Wackenhut”) for violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”).  In the complaint, the former employee alleges that the company violated the wage requirements of the FLSA when it paid him and other similarly-situated employees overtime based on “arbitrary lower, and incorrect, hourly wages,”  instead of the time-and-a-half compensation required by law.  Additionally, the complaint alleges that Wackenhut acted “willfully, intentionally and in reckless disregard of the rights of [the employees],” because it refused to pay the security guards the correct overtime payment despite notice and demand on same.  This is not the first time that Wackenhut has been sued for violations of the FLSA.  In October of 2008, a similar class action was filed against Wackenhut in Kansas, alleging that the company violated the overtime provisions of the FLSA by refusing to compensate its security officers with the statutory minimum rates for regular and overtime hours worked.  Under the FLSA, non-exempt employees are entitled to time-and-a-half for all hours worked in excess of 40 hours per week.  Accordingly, employers who fail to compensate their employees according to the regulations of the FLSA, may be liable for unpaid wages, unpaid overtime, liquidated damages, and attorneys’ fees.  For more information about the FLSA and The Employment Law Group® law firm’s Wage and Hour Practice, click here.

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 2nd, 2009 at 11:43 am and is filed under Fair Labor Standards Act. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.