BOSTON — A Revere-based residential and commercial insulation company and its owner and president have agreed to pay more than $281,000 in penalties and restitution in an agreement reached with Attorney General Maura Healey’s Office for overtime, earned sick time, and payroll records violations.
Master Spray Foam Insulation Inc., and its owner and president, Luciano Teixeira, were issued three citations by the AG’s Office for failing to pay proper overtime rates to 30 employees, failing to keep true and accurate payroll records, and for failing to furnish a suitable paystub from the period of Jan. 1, 2019 to Nov. 1, 2021.
“My office works hard to ensure Massachusetts employers are following our state labor laws, treating their employees fairly, and paying them the wages that they are owed,” said AG Healey. “We are pleased to have secured this relief for the workers affected, and hope this sends a message to other companies that we will hold them accountable if they do not properly compensate their employees.”
The AG’s Office began investigating Master Spray Foam after receiving a complaint from an employee alleging that they were not being paid the proper overtime rate for hours worked in excess of 40 per week. Massachusetts law requires that most employees be paid one-and-a-half times their regular rate for every hour worked over 40 in one week.
The AG’s investigation found the company paid employees at their regular hourly rate in cash for hours worked in excess of 40 hours a week, or paid them a weekly lump sum in cash, and did not report those amounts on pay stubs or payroll records, as required by Massachusetts law. The company also did not have an earned sick time policy, as required by the Massachusetts Earned Sick Time law. Under that law, all employees in Massachusetts are entitled to an hour of earned sick time for every 30 hours worked, up to a maximum of 40 hours in a year.
Under the terms of the AG’s settlement, Master Spray Foam has agreed to pay the affected employees the wages they are owed for underpaid overtime and for failing to provide earned sick time pay to their employees. The company has since revised its payroll practices and come into compliance with state labor and wage laws. Master Spray Foam has also adopted an earned sick leave policy and provided copies of the earned sick leave policy in both Portuguese and English to all employees.
Failure to pay overtime is one of the most common forms of wage theft, especially within the construction industry. This practice, while common, is nonetheless illegal and the AG’s Office is committed to ensuring that all hourly employees receive overtime pay for hours worked in excess of 40. In fiscal year 2022, the AG’s Office issued 216 citations against 100 construction companies for violating state wage and hour and prevailing wage laws, securing more than $1.7 million in restitution for more than 853 workers.
Workers who believe that their rights have been violated in their workplace are encouraged to file a complaint at www.mass.gov/ago/fairlabor. For information about the state’s wage and hour laws, workers may call the AG’s Fair Labor Hotline at (617) 727-3465 or go to www.mass.gov/ago/fairlabor for materials in multiple languages including Spanish and Portuguese.
This case was handled by Assistant Attorney General Alex Sugerman-Brozan, and Supervising Investigator Greg Reutlinger, both of the AG’s Fair Labor Division.
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Revere Insulation Company To Pay More Than $281000 for Overtime, Earned Sick Time, and Payroll Records Violations - Mass.gov
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