Judge orders California roofing contractor, owner to pay nearly $2M in unpaid wages, damages after US Labor Department investigation

LIVERMORE, CA – A federal court has ordered a Northern California-based roofing contractor to pay $1,943,685 in back wages and damages to 158 workers after a U.S. Department of Labor investigation found the employer failed to pay required overtime rates to workers.

The action by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in San Francisco to approve the consent judgment follows an investigation by the department’s Wage and Hour Division that determined Northern California Nail Co. Inc. and its owners failed to pay 158 employees the required rate of time-and-one-half their regular rate of pay for all hours worked over 40 in a workweek, in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act. 

The employer also failed to keep accurate time records, resulting in FLSA recordkeeping violations.

“Northern California Nail and its owners failed to pay overtime wages earned by hard-working roofers, in violation of federal law that protects their rights to be paid fully for their labor,” explained Wage and Hour Division Assistant District Director Ginny Gomez in Sacramento, California. “We are determined to recover wages owed to workers and will work diligently with the department’s legal arm, the Office of the Solicitor, to hold employers accountable for compliance.” 

The Wage and Hour Division also assessed $56,314 in penalties to resolve the willful violations. 

The FLSA requires most employees in the U.S. be paid at least the federal minimum wage for all hours worked and overtime pay at not less than time and one-half their regular rate of pay for all hours worked over 40 in a workweek.

Northern California Nail Co. Inc., headquartered in Livermore, performs roofing services in Arizona, California, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington. 

For information about the FLSA and other laws enforced by the Wage and Hour Division, contact the division’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Learn more about the Wage and Hour Division online, and see a search tool to use if you think you may be owed back wages collected by the division. Download the agency’s free Timesheet App for Android and iPhone devices to ensure hours and pay are accurate.