Migliaccio & Rathod LLP is investigating whether contract security officers assigned to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Headquarters were paid for every hour they were required to work.
What is the issue?
Officers responsible for federal-building access may screen employees and visitors, operate magnetometers and x-ray machines, inspect packages, monitor loading areas, staff control rooms, and respond to alarms or security incidents.
Although an officer may be scheduled for an eight-hour post, the officer’s compensable day may include required activities outside those eight hours. These activities can include reporting early, obtaining equipment, receiving instructions, inspecting screening equipment, waiting for relief, and completing reports.
Meal periods may also be compensable when officers remain responsible for a post, must monitor a radio, cannot leave the premises, or are frequently interrupted.
Security officers may have experienced:
- Being told to arrive 15 to 30 minutes before the scheduled shift.
- Unpaid roll-call, briefing, or pass-down time.
- Unpaid equipment and post inspections.
- Meal deductions while remaining at an entrance or screening station.
- Interrupted breaks that were never restored to payroll.
- Unpaid waiting time when a replacement officer arrived late.
- Straight-time pay for mandatory overtime.
- Missing pay for emergency or demonstration-related assignments.
- Supervisors changing recorded time to match a fixed schedule.
- Different payroll companies being used for regular and overtime hours.
Signs you may be affected
- You worked as an armed or unarmed security officer, lobby officer, patrol officer, dispatcher, or access-control officer at HUD Headquarters.
- You worked for a private security contractor rather than directly for the federal government.
- You reported early for inspections, equipment issuance, or post assignments without being paid for all of your time.
- You worked more than 40 hours in a week but did not receive proper overtime pay.
- Your employer automatically deducted meal breaks even though you remained responsible for your assigned security post.
- You completed required reports, waited for relief, or returned equipment after your scheduled shift without compensation.
The security company appearing on a worker’s paycheck may be a subcontractor under a larger federal contract. HUD officers can identify themselves by building, entrance, post, shift, supervisor, badge, or approximate dates of employment.
If you worked as an armed or unarmed security officer, screener, access-control officer, dispatcher, patrol officer, control-room operator, package inspector, badging employee, or other security-support worker at HUD Headquarters and believe your paycheck omitted required work time, please contact Migliaccio & Rathod LLP through the form below, by email at [email protected], or by telephone at (202) 470-3520.