Nearly 30 employees of Cyrilla Landscaping & Supply Co. received a total of $39,091 in back wages from their employer, plus an equal amount in liquidated damages. This is the outcome of a Department of Labor (DOL) investigation that found the company was cheating its workers out of extra pay for overtime employee attendance.

"Workers in the landscaping industry are among the most vulnerable in the workforce," said John DuMont, director of the Pittsburgh Wage and Hour Division district office.

To make sure employees in this line of work get the pay they have rightfully earned, the DOL is prepared to track down violators and take corrective action, DuMont adds. In many cases, this means securing back wages for affected staff members and putting measures in place to prevent companies from making the same mistakes in the future.

Construction companies, which include subsets like painting and landscaping businesses, are often under the microscope for labor rights violations because they hire temporary workers and individuals who may not speak English and may not fully understand their rights. Moreover, they are mobile, so it might seem difficult to keep track of hours and paperwork on the road.

But these challenges don't free them of obligations to track employees' work time and document identifying information. Some companies have found they can work around mobility issues with wireless timeclock systems that send time and attendance totals to central databases.

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