U.S. Department of Labor Conducts Outreach & Enforcement To Ensure Wage And Hour Compliance During Kentucky Tornado Cleanup Efforts
Employees in Kentucky should be aware that members of the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division issued a news release stating that response team are providing in-person assistance in the area where tornadoes in December 2021 caused widespread damage. Response Team members are reminding workers of their rights, and making sure employers understand their responsibilities when it comes to paying workers properly.
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division assists in emergency and disaster recovery efforts in the communities affected by severe storms, floods and other disasters by ensuring employees conducting essential recovery work are paid as the law requires.
The Department of Labor stated that it is committed to ensuring that workers in this country are paid properly and for all the hours they work, regardless of immigration status.
The government agency also enforces contracts entered into with the federal government to include the Davis Bacon and Related Acts as well as The McNamara-O’Hara Service Contract Act.
The Service Contract Act, which generally applies to federal or District of Columbia contracts for clean-up activities following a disaster, requires contractors and subcontractors performing services on prime contracts in excess of $2,500 to pay service employees in various classes no less than the wage rates and fringe benefits found prevailing in the locality, or the rates (including prospective increases) contained in a predecessor contractor’s collective bargaining agreement.
Davis-Bacon regulations require federal contractors and subcontractors performing work on contracts in excess of $2,000 to pay their laborers and mechanics not less than the prevailing wage rates and fringe benefits for corresponding classes of laborers and mechanics employed on similar projects in the area.
Source: United States Department of Labor.