The US Department of Labor recovered $450K in wages and benefits for 250 workers of Honolulu Air Cargo Carriers, TransAir, which disregarded federal regulations.
TransAir operator assessed $12K in penalties for violations of the USPS contract.
HONOLULU, HI (USPress.News) The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has recovered more than $450,000 from a Honolulu air cargo carrier that shortchanged 250 employees of their full pay and benefits while fulfilling a $113 million U.S. Postal Service contract to move mail between airports in Hawaii.
The recovery follows an investigation by the department’s Wage and Hour Division of Rhoades Aviation Inc., operating as TransAir, which determined that the employer recklessly disregarded requirements in the Service Contract Act, which sets prevailing wages and fringe benefits that employers under federal contract must pay.
Specifically, division investigators found TransAir violated federal regulations by doing the following:
- Paying incorrect and lower prevailing wage rates to 208 material handling laborers for whom the division recovered $268,839 in back wages.
- Not disbursing correct health and welfare benefits, holiday, and vacation pay to 208 workers for whom the division recovered $156,106 in fringe benefits.
- Failing to pay correct overtime wages to 55 workers for whom the division recovered $12,650 in overtime wages and $12,625 in liquidated damages.
“Our investigation found TransAir failed to comply with federal service contract regulations regarding worker compensation,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Terence Trotter in Honolulu. “The U.S. Postal Service’s federal contract obligated TransAir to not only comply with standards for mail delivery but also for standards that deliver the lawful payment and benefits to workers performing those labor-intensive services.”
Investigators also determined TransAir unlawfully made 30-minute deductions for lunch breaks not taken, causing the employer to underreport and underpay overtime hours, in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act.
Since 1982, Rhoades Aviation Inc.’s fleet of TransAir aircraft has provided air cargo service and charters within the state of Hawaii to deliver packages, mail, animals, oversized baggage, emergency equipment, and other items. In addition to its USPS contract, the company has contracts with UPS, FedEx, and Pacific Air.
