A Michigan-based firm paid $594,000 in back wages and penalties after it was found to have misclassified 63 workers as independent contractors and did not maintain complete timekeeping records, the US Department of Labor reported.

The firm, Teracom, is a Saline, Michigan-based construction company that installs underground fiber optics for telephone and internet providers. The $594,000 comprises $297,137 in back wages and the same amount for liquidated damages.

Teracom had previously been assessed $44,496 in 2018 in civil penalties for similar violations, according to the department.

“Employers who misclassify workers as independent contractors deny them their rights as employees to important overtime, benefits and protections,” Wage and Hour District Director Timolin Mitchell in Detroit, said in a press release.

Contact information for Teracom could not be located.