Peabody Company Ordered to Pay $1 Million in Back Pay, Damages

A Peabody cleaning contractor has to pay $1 million in back pay and damages to its workers for violating federal wage laws.

Ward’s Cleaning Service Inc., “went to great lengths to avoid paying its workers overtime, including directing employees to use multiple timecards with different names, altering timecards, paying employees with checks made out to false names, and paying employees in cash,” said the U.S. Department of Labor, according to the Associated Press.

The cleaning company, which provides night cleaning crews, housekeepers and dishwashers to dozens of hotels and restaurants in Greater Boston, has to pay 149 employees between $40 and $43,000 each, reported the AP.

Read the full AP article here.