Indy security company found in violation of federal law for 3rd time
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The U.S. Department of Labor found that Indianapolis-based Protection Plus Inc. has violated federal law for the third time in five years after it did not pay its guards accurate overtime rates, the department announced Wednesday.
A Wage and Hour Division investigation concluded that 31 security guards are owed $28,334 in overtime back wages and liquidated damages. The company also has to pay $27,597 in penalties for violating the Fair Labor Standards Act.
“Abiding by federal wage laws in not optional,” Aaron Loomis, Wage and Hour Division District director, said in a news release. “Protection Plus continues to defy federal overtime wage laws, despite being found in violation in both 2018 and 2022 for the same practice.”
From January 2021 to November 2022, the division said Protection Plus did not pay overtime rates for some employees and paid others incorrect rates that varied based on different jobs worked during the same week. It also said the business failed to have accurate payroll records.
As for past violations, a consent judgment entered in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana in June 2022 required Protection Plus and its owner Raymond Stanley to pay $185,459 in wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages to 215 employees.
In 2018, the company paid $98,949 in overtime back wages and liquidated damages to 158 workers as well as a $25,000 fine.