Investigation recovers $560K for workers denied full wages, benefits by District of Columbia behavioral health department’s group homes provider
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WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered more than $560,000 after its investigation found an operator of group homes deprived 34 workers in the District of Columbia-area of their full wages and fringe benefits.
The department’s Wage and Hour Division determined Lamont Homes Inc. violated the Fair Labor Standards Act and the McNamara-O’Hara Service Contract Act. The district’s Department of Behavioral Health contracted the company to provide residences for people needing mental and behavioral support. Federal Service Contract Act worker protections, including the payment of prevailing wages and fringe benefits, apply to most service contracts entered into by the District of Columbia.
Division investigators found Lamont Homes violated federal law by failing to do the following:
- Classify workers properly based on the duties they performed.
- Pay the prevailing wage rate required by the SCA wage determination.
- Compensate workers for all hours worked, including weekend hours.
- Pay fringe benefits, including health and welfare, vacation and holiday pay.
- Pay proper overtime rates for hours over 40 in a workweek.
- Maintain records of actual hours worked.
“Under the Service Contract Act, employers like Lamont Homes that provide services for the District of Columbia must pay workers prevailing wages and fringe benefits, protections that help ensure that government contracts build the middle class,” said Wage and Hour Administrator Jessica Looman. “Violations like those found in this case can be prevented when employers meet their contractual obligations.”
In addition to paying back wages and fringe benefits, Lamont Homes agreed to implement accurate record-keeping of hours worked, pay required wages in the future, not deduct lodging expenses from employees’ pay and receive training on FLSA and SCA compliance.
Learn more about the FLSA and the SCA. Workers can use the division’s Workers Owed Wages search tool to check if they are owed back wages collected by the division. Download the agency’s new Timesheet App, available for iOS and Android devices in English and Spanish, to ensure hours and pay are accurate. Employers and workers can contact the division confidentially at its toll-free number, 1-866-4-US-WAGE (487-9243). The division can speak with callers in more than 200 languages, regardless of where a caller is from.
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