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Contractor accused of paying sub-minimum wages settles case

['Clark Kauffman', 'More From Author', '- January']

Date: 2022-01-31 00:00:00


A Des Moines plumbing company that was accused of paying its workers less than the minimum wage of $7.25 an hour has reached a settlement agreement with federal labor officials.

In February 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor sued AJ Plumbing of Des Moines in federal court, alleging numerous violations of federal wage and hour laws.

The department alleged that from November 2016 through March 2018, if not longer, AJ Plumbing had employed individuals on a construction project related to the Nexus at Gray’s Landing apartment building in downtown Des Moines.

According to the Department of Labor, the company failed to pay certain employees on that project the minimum wage of $7.25 per hour.

The company also failed to provide certain employees with overtime pay for the hours they worked after already putting in 40 hours during the week. That alleged violation occurred on the Nexus at Gray’s Landing project as well as other projects, the department claimed.

With regard to the overtime hours, the company allegedly “banked” employee hours worked after the 40-hour threshold, and then paid those hours later at straight time, rather than at the higher rate of overtime pay.

The company also was accused of failing to keep accurate payroll records by documenting that some workers had put in less than 40 hours per week when in reality the employees had put in more than 40 hours.

The Department of Labor listed 27 employees whose wages were alleged to have been unlawfully calculated by the company.

The company denied all of the allegations.

Last week, AJ Plumbing and the Department of Labor agreed to a consent judgment that requires the company to refrain from retaliating against any employees who may have complained of federal labor law violations. The deal also requires the company to pay a total of $19,000 to the 27 employees, three of whom are owed more than $2,000 each.

The written settlement agreement stipulates that AJ Plumbing admits to no wrongdoing, and it goes on to say the company agreed to the deal only to avoid any further expense and inconvenience.

Company officials were not available for comment Monday afternoon.

AJ Plumbing is owned by Ja-Ra Inc., whose president is Kim Gamble of Runnells, Iowa.

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