Labor & Employment Law Daily Wrap Up, DOL NEWS—WHD recovers $1.4M in unpaid overtime for over 2,600 employees of electrical engineering and construction company, (May 8, 2025)
Organizations Mentioned:Alacrity Employment Services | Cupertino Electric Inc. | Cupertino Electric, Inc. | Hawaii Care and Cleaning | Quanta | U.S. Department of Labor
By Brandi O. Brown, J.D.
Meanwhile, DOL is looking for those workers who may be owed back pay and damages under a January consent judgment amounting to more than $3.8 million.
In two separate matters, work by the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division has resulted in over $5.2 million in recovery of unpaid wages and damages on behalf of more than 3,700 workers in California and Hawaii.
Failed to include bonuses. More than 2,600 employees will receive, collectively, more than $1.4 million in back wages after the Labor Department’s Wage and Hour Division determined that a San Jose-based electrical engineering and construction company—one of California’s largest electrical contractors—failed to pay them proper overtime rates in violation of the FLSA. Investigators determined that Cupertino Electric Inc., a subsidiary of Quanta, failed to include non-discretionary bonuses when determining the rate for purposes of calculating overtime pay.
“The U.S. Department of Labor is committed to making sure employees are paid properly, including the full amount of their legally required overtime rates,” said Wage and Hour Division Assistant District Director Lilita Hom in San Jose.
Seeking impacted workers for payment. Meanwhile, the Labor Department is actively seeking hundreds of workers who are owed their share of more than $3.8 million in unpaid overtime withheld deliberately by a staffing agency and a cleaning contractor. The impacted workers are owed money as part of a consent judgment reached under the Biden administration that requires their employer to pay $1.9 million in back wages and an equal amount in damages to over 1,100 workers. On January 14, 2025, the Office of the Solicitor obtained a consent judgment requiring Hawaii Care and Cleaning, Alacrity Employment Services, and their respective owners, to pay the back wages and damages. The judgment also directed Hawaii Care and Cleaning and Alacrity Employment Services to pay $50,000 in civil money penalties given their willful violations of the FLSA.
Anyone employed by these companies between March 5, 2021, and November 13, 2024, should contact the division’s Honolulu District Office at (808) 541-1361 to find out if they are owed back wages and damages.
Companies: Quanta; Cupertino Electric Inc.; Hawaii Care and Cleaning; Alacrity Employment Services
News: AgencyNews WageHour Overtime MinimumWage RemediesDamages