A Maxwell, Texas-based mobile home transportation company paid $84,740 in back wages for misclassifying 32 laborers and drivers as independent contractors, the US Department of Labor reported.

The company, Paredes Inc., operating as Superior Service, failed to pay the affected employees their wages for overtime hours worked, which is more than 40 hours in a week, as required by the Fair Labor Standards Act. The company also failed to maintain federally required records, according to the department. 

Paredes Inc. transports and installs manufactured homes.

“Misclassifying employees as independent contractors deprives workers of their full wages, benefits and employment protections and allows their employers to gain an unfair advantage over law-abiding competitors,” Acting District Director Rosalinda Huffman said in a press release. “Employers who wrongly believe they can abuse employees’ rights to be paid all of their hard-earned wages will find the consequences for violating the law can be costly.”

The department published a final rule, effective March 11, revising its guidance on determining who is an employee and who is an independent contractor under the Fair Labor Standards Act.