Renewable Revolution

Agelbert NOTE: More evidence that the fossil fuel industry is "responsible" and always "behaves ethically" towards its employees who are considered, as MKing the fossil fueler will be quick to tell you, the  "salt of the earth"...




Staff Writers March 16, 2016

The U.S. Department of Labor said Monday it has identified $1.6 million in back wages owed to oil and gas workers at four different firms.

The DOL said investigations of Jet Specialties Inc. of Boerne, Texas, Frank’s International LLC and Stream-Flo USA LLC, of Houston and Viking Onshore Drilling LLC, of Odessa, Texas found violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act’s overtime provisions.

The four companies have more than 2,500 employees combined and owe employees a combined $1.6 million in back wages.

According to the DOL, Jet Specialties considered salaried employees exempt from overtime requirements, failed to pay an overtime premium regardless of how many hours employees worked and failed to include bonus payments workers received as part of their regular pay rates when calculating overtime.

Frank’s International failed to “pay proper overtime” after not including bonus payments in workers’ regular pay rates when computing overtime, and Stream-Flo USA paid nonexempt workers flat salaries without regard to how many hours they worked.

Investigations of Frank’s International and Stream-Flo USA began in the Northeast and expanded to other U.S. locations, the agency said.

Affected employees for both companies live in Colorado, Louisiana, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah and Wyoming.

Viking Onshore Drilling failed to include bonus payments in workers’ regular rates when determining overtime pay, according to the DOL.

Investigators found violations related to Viking Onshore Drilling operations in Texas, New Mexico and Oklahoma.

“We continue to find unacceptably high numbers of violations in the oil and gas industry. We must ensure that employers pay workers the hard-earned wages they have rightfully earned,” regional administrator for the Wage and Hour Division in the Southwest Betty Campbell said.
 
Company Name                     Back Wages   Employees Affected      
Jet Specialties Inc.                     $866,871              321      
Frank’s International LLC            $555, 351           1,760      
Viking Onshore Drilling LLC          $167,646              411      
Stream-Flo USA LLC                      $75,414               29   

http://petroglobalnews.com/2016/03/four-oil-gas-firms-owe-1-6-million-back-wages-feds-say/