Englewood-based Omni Contracting Management and others have agreed to pay nearly $1 million in back wages and interest to 2,772 workers in Colorado and five other states, the U.S. Department of Labor said today.
The corporate defendants were also fined a total of $10,000 by the department’s Denver wage and hour division.
DOL investigators determined that the company and 10 other related janitorial companies failed to pay time-and one-half for overtime hours worked.
The payments were withheld from Jan. 1, 2002 through October 31, 2004, the DOL said. The bulk of the affected employees, 1,667, were in Colorado, said Rich Kulczewski, DOL spokesman.
Omni maintains that it isn’t affiliated with the janitorial companies, but contracts with them to provide administrative services, said Peter Munger, Omni’s lawyer. “The government took the position that all were linked,” he said.
The companies don’t admit guilt in agreeing to the settlement.
Two individuals, Omni president Belinda Betancourt, and Hector Nava, Betancourt’s husband, also agreed to the settlement.
Betancourt said Omni did comply with the Fair Labor Standard’s Act’s regulations for overtime pay. “This was more of a record-keeping issue than not being paid correctly. We don’t agree with the findings.”
Omni agreed to the settlement to avoid a protracted legal battle, Betancourt said. Omni operates in Colorado and contracts with the other companies, which include National Maintenance Corp., Protech Cleaning Services, Colorado National Floor Service, all of Colorado, Star Brite Services, of New Mexico, Munger said.
Companies subject to the agreement are also in Texas, Nevada, Minnesota and Arizona.
Staff writer Tom McGhee can be reached at (303)820-1671 or tmcghee@denverpost.com
