Migliaccio & Rathod LLP is investigating whether M.A. Mortenson Construction Company and related Mortenson Construction operations properly calculated overtime for hourly construction and solar employees who received recurring per diem payments.
Construction and renewable-energy workers who travel to projects may receive daily or weekly per diem payments in addition to their ordinary hourly wages. Reports provided for this investigation indicate that certain hourly Mortenson Construction solar workers received recurring weekly per diem payments while working overtime.
Legitimate reimbursement for reasonably incurred business expenses may generally be excluded from an employee’s regular rate. However, payments labeled as a “per diem” may in some circumstances constitute compensation that must be accounted for when calculating overtime, depending on how the payments are structured and what they compensate employees for.
Migliaccio & Rathod is investigating whether certain Mortenson Construction per diem payments should have been included when determining employees’ overtime rates.
Employees May Have Experienced:
- Receiving a fixed daily or weekly per diem;
- Receiving the same or similar per diem regardless of actual expenses;
- Receiving per diem payments while working on solar or construction projects away from home;
- Working substantial overtime while receiving per diem payments;
- Receiving overtime based only on their ordinary hourly wage; and
- Receiving recurring per diem payments separately from regular wages and overtime.
Potential Claims May Include:
- Improper exclusion of compensation from the regular rate;
- Underpayment of overtime compensation;
- Improper treatment of per diem payments;
- Violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act;
- Violations of applicable state wage laws; and
- Recovery of unpaid overtime and other available damages.
Signs You May Be Affected:
- You worked for Mortenson Construction as an hourly construction, solar, energy, or similar employee;
- You received daily or weekly per diem payments;
- The amount of your per diem was fixed or not based on your actual expenses;
- You regularly worked more than 40 hours per week;
- Your overtime rate was calculated using only your base hourly wage; or
- Your per diem continued to be paid according to a standard schedule regardless of the expenses you actually incurred.
If you have encountered these issues, we would like to hear from you. Please complete the contact form on this page, send us an email at [email protected], or give us a call.