A Des Moines plumbing company that was accused of paying its workers less than the minimum wage of $7.25 an hour has reached a settlement agreement with federal labor officials.

In February 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor sued AJ Plumbing of Des Moines in federal court, alleging numerous violations of federal wage and hour laws.

The department alleged that from November 2016 through March 2018, if not longer, AJ Plumbing had employed individuals on a construction project related to the Nexus at Gray’s Landing apartment building in downtown Des Moines.

According to the Department of Labor, the company failed to pay certain employees on that project the minimum wage of $7.25 per hour.

The company also failed to provide certain employees with overtime pay for the hours they worked after already putting in 40 hours during the week. That alleged violation occurred on the Nexus at Gray’s Landing project as well as other projects, the department claimed.

With regard to the overtime hours, the company allegedly “banked” employee hours worked after the 40-hour threshold, and then paid those hours later at straight time, rather than at the higher rate of overtime pay.

The company also was accused of failing to keep accurate payroll records by documenting that some workers had put in less than 40 hours per week when in reality the employees had put in more than 40 hours.

The Department of Labor listed 27 employees whose wages were alleged to have been unlawfully calculated by the...

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