(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — A federal investigation has found that 29 employees of Red Oak Tree Service in suburban Crystal Lake are owed over $963,000 in back pay and damages, according to a complaint filed by the U.S. Department of Labor.
The complaint, filed on Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, centers around overtime pay that was denied for workers between Nov. 1, 2020, and Oct. 30, 2022.
Although workers should have received 1.5 times their hourly rate for overtime hours, officials said Red Oak Tree Service and owner Humberto Gonzalez paid 29 employees straight time in cash.
In all, the unpaid overtime amounted to $481,927. In their filing, investigators said the workers were owed liquidated damages of an equal amount for a total of $963,854.
An attorney representing Red Tree Oak Service told WBBM Newsradio the company had no comment on the complaint due to ongoing litigation.
In a statement, Wage and Hour District Director Tom Gauza said workers must be paid 1.5 times their hourly rate for all overtime hours worked unless very specific conditions are met.
“Not paying them earned overtime takes money out of the pockets of workers, harming employees and their communities because workers have less to spend,” he said.
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