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Cable installers denied overtime pay - Cable technicians and overtime laws

Cable installers: Are you paid by piece-rate for your work? Find out why cable companies may owe you overtime.

If you are a cable technician working more than 40 hours a week without overtime pay, you need to read the next two examples of how you may be cheated out of wages by your cable employer or contractor.

Most cable installers are paid on a piece-rate basis, which means they are paid a certain amount for each job they perform. For workers in the cable installation industry, earnings may be determined on a piece-rate, salary, commission, or some other basis, but overtime pay has to be calculated using the employee's average hourly rate. Oftentimes, this is not the case and we have filed claims against several cable companies for overtime pay, including:

• Beyond Broadband Solutions, Inc.
• Bucaneer Communications, Inc.

Case in Point
Connect Cable Contractors Inc. agrees to pay $176,600 in back wages to 253 employees

The investigation determined that installers and service technicians were paid piece rates based on jobs performed. While weekly pay averaged between $500 and $1,000, the workers did not receive overtime when working more than 40 hours in a week. Workers were not compensated for:

• time spent traveling to job sites,
• time spent in the company's warehouse, 
• attending company-required meetings and 
• entering data into the computer system.

Connect Cable Contractors provides cable installation in North Carolina in Asheville, Boone, and Hickory.

Case in Point
Cable installers in Plano, Texas, to receive $270,000 in overtime back wages

• misclassified cable installers as independent contactors,
• did not compensate employees at time-and-a-half for all hours worked over 40 in a week, and
• failed to maintain accurate records of employees' work hours and wages.

Integral Development Solutions is a Plano-based subcontractor of Time Warner Cable Inc., and provides cable installation and activation in Texas.

Other cable companies with pay investigations:

• Direct TV subcontractors
• Baker, a contractor for Time Warner
• ACI in Columbus, a contractor for Time Warner