Almost exactly one year ago today, I posted "
Misclassifying Oil and Gas Workers as Independent Contractors Can
Be Costly." This post discussed the consequences of
misclassifying a worker as an independent contractor.
Yesterday, the United States Department of Labor issued a press release concerning "one of
the largest recoveries of overtime wages in recent years."
Halliburton has reportedly agreed to pay over $18 million in
overtime owed to more than 1,000 employees. The Casper Star Tribune
reports that 27 Wyoming residents will be paid
$506,000.
The Department of Labor press release provides the following:
Investigators found Halliburton incorrectly categorized
employees in 28 job positions as exempt from overtime. The company
did not pay overtime to these salaried employees — working as
field service representatives, pipe recovery specialists, drilling
tech advisors, perforating specialists and reliability tech
specialists — when they worked more than 40
