Indy security firm to pay thousands in back wages after not paying workers overtime for 2-1/2 years

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — An Indianapolis-based security company will have to pay several employees thousands in back wages after failing to pay overtime for nearly two years.

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The U.S. Department of Labor announced Wednesday that Protection Plus Inc. and its owner, Raymond Stanley, failed to pay 31 employees overtime from Jan. 8, 2021, to Nov. 18, 2022.

Protection Plus provides event and hospital security, as well as traffic control and security for the Indianapolis airport.

Department of Labor investigators found that during the nearly two-year period, “Protection Plus didn’t pay required overtime rates to some employees.” When the company did pay, the DOL says they failed to accurately calculate overtime when “employees received two or more rates of pay for different jobs performed in the same work week.”

The company also didn’t accurately record payroll.

The Fair Labor Standards Act requires employers to pay their employees time and one-half of their regular pay for over 40 hours in a workweek.

Following the investigation, Protection Plus and Stanley were ordered to pay $28,334 in back wages and liquidated damages to its employees. They were also ordered to pay $27,597 for willfully violating the Fair Labor Standards Act.

This is not the first time the Department of Labor has investigated the company for similar acts.

In June 2022, the company had to pay $185,459 in back wages to 215 employees for overtime violations, and $69,540 for violating federal laws; and in 2018, they paid $98,949 in overtime back wages and another $25,000 in civil penalties.

In total, Protection Plus has had to pay $434,789 over the last five years to repay employees and cover federal fines.