A Lindenhurst janitorial services firm has been forced to pay more than $333,000 to employees after a U.S. Department of Labor investigation found the company failed to pay workers proper overtime rates.
Professional Building Maintenance Corp., which provides commercial floor maintenance, window cleaning and post-construction cleanup services, was ordered to pay 51 employees back wages and damages that doubled the amount owed to workers, the federal Labor Department said Monday. The company was found to be issuing separate checks to workers to cover up its failure to pay required overtime rates, the agency said.
“We deny the allegations and resolved this case in order to avoid the costs of further litigation,” said David Feather, a Garden City-based attorney representing the company.
After an investigation by the Labor Department’s Wage and Hour Division, the agency said that company employees worked “as many as 80 hours per week or more” and that Professional Building Maintenance and owner Brady Patruno regularly paid workers straight-time hourly rates instead of overtime pay.
In total, investigators recovered $166,702 in back wages and an equal amount in damages. Additionally, the federal agency levied $15,432 in civil penalties.
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