WASHINGTON D.C. — Property Management Companies employ thousands of people each year to provide services related to the maintenance of condominium associations, apartment buildings and office buildings. Examples of common property management positions include janitors, maintenance technicians, leasing agents, sales people, and management. When the inevitable problems arise, property management workers get the call.
Often times, these workers put in very long hours – often working on-call hours and late into the evening. But all too often, property management companies fail to track all the hours their works put in each week, or worse, they demand their employees work significant off the clock hours without pay. When that happens, it’s illegal.
Unless specifically exempted, employees covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act must receive overtime pay for hours worked in excess of 40 in a workweek at a rate not less than time and one-half their regular rates of pay. An employer’s failure to pay overtime makes them liable for back pay, liquidated (double) damages, attorneys’ fees, and the costs of litigation.
In 2012, the United States Department of Labor recovered almost $75,000 in back pay for property management company workers in a civil enforcement action in New Jersey. (http://ipv6.dol.gov/whd/media/press/whdpressVB3.asp?pressdoc=Northeast/20120416.xml) And this year, Amurcon Corporation agreed to pay $300,000 in back pay, liquidated damages, and attorneys’ fees in a civil lawsuit brought by35 property management workers. See http://www.sommerspc.com/blog/2013/11/sommers-schwartz-settles-flsa-class-action-against-amurcon-corp/
If you work in property management and are not being paid time-and-a-half for hours worked over 40 in a workweek, you may be entitled to back pay and other damages under the Fair Labor Standards Act. FLSA lawyers can speak to you to determine if you have a case.