Bilfinger, Inc., one of the nations leading industrial services provider, has just been sued for unpaid wages. The collective action complaint, filed this past Thursday by our firm along with Shellist Lozarz Slobin LLP, alleged that the company failed to pay its workers correctly for overtime as required by the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FSLA”). This lawsuit specifically seeks to recover overtime pay for all workers in similarly situated positions, such as nonexempt construction workers and laborers, who work or have worked for Bilfinger, Inc., Bilfinger Salamis, Inc., and Bilfinger Westcon, Inc. throughout the United States.
The company pays its non-exempt workers an hourly rate plus an additional “per diem” or “subsistence” wage. Even though these workers are considered non-exempt employees entitled to overtime pay, Bilfinger has failed to properly pay them their overtime at 1.5 times their regular rate of pay. The complaint alleges that this occurred when the company failed to factor in all compensation paid. Specifically, non-exempt workers have claimed that all of their remuneration, such as their “per diem” pay, was not included when calculating their regular rate of pay as required by the FLSA. Due to the extent of hours worked by these non-exempt employees, which was consistently 10-12 hour days for 5-7 days per week, they believe they were significantly underpaid for their overtime hours worked. These claims are brought on behalf of similarly situated Non- Exempt Laborers who elect to opt in to this action pursuant to the FLSA.
Unfortunately, offering additional pay such as per diems but failing to properly include them when calculating overtime rates is a common tactic seen throughout several industries. In this matter, affected workers may include all current and former similarly situated non-exempt laborers for Bilfinger Inc., in the United States who received per diem or subsistence pay not included in their regular rate of pay for overtime purposes and who elect to opt-in to this action. If you’ve worked for this company and have questions regarding your eligibility for this lawsuit, do not hesitate to call our firm at (212)300-0375. Additionally, if you’ve worked in a similar industry and have concerns about your pay structure, call us for a free and confidential consultation or visit our website for additional information.
You can also view the filed complaint here.