MIAMI – U.S. Department of Labor investigators found that a Florida company based out of Palm Beach County had skirted federal overtime laws, the agency announced on Tuesday.

The department’s wage and hour division in Miami found Properties of Elegant Distinction, a Boynton Beach-based residential construction contractor, didn’t pay workers for overtime.

The division recovered $240,497 in back wages for 40 employees.

“Employers must understand and comply with federal labor laws, including paying workers the wages they have legally earned,” said Daniel Cronin, the wage and hour division district director in Miami.

Investigators reported the contractor paid workers for their first 40 hours with a company check or through direct deposit and paid for overtime with a second check issued from a separate account at the workers’ straight-time rate.

“When employers don’t comply, they violate the law, hurt their employees and gain an unfair competitive advantage over employers that play by the rules,” Cronin said in a statement.

Cronin also said that as South Florida emerges from the pandemic, the wage and hour division in Miami is working to make sure essential workers “take home every penny of their hard-earned wages.”

For more information about the laws enforced by the division, contact the agency’s toll-free helpline at 1-866-487-9243 and search this database to check for owed back wages collected.