Massachusetts Construction Company Settles Overtime Pay Lawsuit for $162,000

Avon, MAAn Avon construction agency charged with violating overtime labor laws has settled the case out of court for approximately $162,000, including a $20,000 penalty to the state.

span itemprop="image" itemscope itemtype="https://schema.org/ImageObject" style="display:block">Attorney General Martha Coakley began investigating Diaz Construction's labor practices in 2008, after her office received complaints from employees about improper overtime pay rates. The company's president, Leonel Diaz, reportedly cooperated with the investigation and provided the state with payroll records from the previous two years.

A self-audit of the company's payroll records revealed that Diaz had been unintentionally paying his employees an hourly wage for overtime hours worked instead of the time-and-a-half rate required under Massachusetts labor law.

Under the settlement, Diaz construction will pay roughly $142,000 in restitution to 129 former and current employees who worked in the two-year period between July 2006 and June 2008.

The investigation was handled by the state's Fair Labor Division, which enforces prevailing wage, minimum wage and overtime laws in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.