Oil company pays thousands to overtime workers
Honghua America has paid out $687,469 to employees who were not compensated for their time and attendance. The Houston Chronicle reported that the oil and gas company was ordered to dole out the pay to 133 workers after the U.S. Department of Labor uncovered dishonest business practices at the Texas company.
Rather than categorizing the individuals as full-time employees, Honghua America labeled 133 individuals as independent contractors. This allowed the company to pay workers straight-time rates after 40 hours each week, rather than the time and a half rates they were owed.
The Labor Department discovered the discrepancies, which are in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act. Cynthia Watson, the Department of Labor's regional administrator for wage and hour division, explained that such cases are not uncommon.
"The department is committed to remedying employee misclassification, which is a problem we commonly come across in the oil and gas industry," Watson said. "It often results in employees being denied their proper wages," the Houston Chronicle reported.
Employees often worked up to 80 hours per week without appropriate compensation at the Houston manufacturing facility. Honghua America is one of 10 subsidiaries of Honghua Group Limited, one of the largest drilling equipment producers in the world.
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