Construction workers are no strangers to long days and hard labor. But too often, employers fail to pay for work done outside of official shift hours—costing employees valuable wages and, in many cases, violating federal labor law.
Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), any time spent on job-related tasks must be compensated, regardless of whether the worker has officially clocked in. That includes:
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Loading or unloading tools and materials
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Prepping or staging equipment before the shift begins
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Cleaning up tools or the jobsite after hours
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Traveling from a company facility to the worksite, if required by the employer
If these tasks are part of your daily responsibilities and your employer isn’t paying for that time, it may constitute wage theft and a violation of federal and state overtime laws.
Why It Matters
Even just 15 to 30 minutes of unpaid time each day can result in substantial losses over weeks and months—especially if you’re regularly exceeding 40 hours per week. In those cases, you may also be owed overtime pay at 1.5x your regular rate, not just straight time.
We’re Investigating
Migliaccio & Rathod LLP is actively investigating unpaid pre- and post-shift work in the construction industry, including whether companies are systematically failing to compensate workers for prep, cleanup, or required travel time.
This issue is not hypothetical — on July 22, 2022, Judge Christy Criswell Wiegand of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania granted final approval of a $2,725,000 settlement in a class action we brought against Great Arrow Builders LLC on behalf of their Hourly Craft Union Workers. The case, Rafael A. Morel Then v. Great Arrow Builders LLC, Inc., alleged that the company violated the FLSA by failing to include a daily site allowance in its “regular rate” for overtime purposes.*
(Learn more about that case and regular rate violations here.)
Contact Us
If you are a construction worker who regularly performs unpaid prep, cleanup, or travel-related work, you may be entitled to back pay and overtime compensation. Contact us for a free and confidential consultation to learn more about your rights under federal and state wage laws.
The attorneys at Migliaccio & Rathod LLP have decades of experience recovering unpaid wages for workers and have secured tens of millions of dollars in settlements across wage theft and overtime cases. Reach out at info@classlawdc.com or call us at (202) 470-3520.