The U.S. Department of Labor is suing Nanakuli-based Kazu Construction LLC and its owner Vernon Lowry to recover $500,000 in back wages for 17 employees.

The Labor Department said Wednesday that an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division in Honolulu found that Kazu Construction and Lowry repeatedly violated the overtime and minimum wage requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

The department said the construction company did not pay employees overtime when they worked more than 40 hours in a week, instead allowing workers to claim the hours as sick leave or other time off. Because of this, the department said the employer failed to pay some workers at least minimum wage and overtime rates for all the hours they worked beyond 40 in a week. Employers must pay most employees time and a half their regular rate of pay for any hours worked in excess of 40 per week.

Kazu Construction has refused to pay the wages that the division determined the company owes its employees, the Department of Labor said.

This kind of violation is common in the construction industry, said Janet Herold, the Department of Labor’s regional solicitor in San Francisco.

“Banking overtime hours instead of paying employees is an illegal practice used commonly in the construction industry,” said Herold. “Employers who fail to pay the wages required by law hurt the workers and their families, and gain an unfair advantage over competitors. We will go to court when necessary to stop illegal labor practices and to restore the lawful wages owed to workers.”

Kazu Construction did not respond to voicemail and email messages seeking comment for this article.

Kazu Construction has been an accredited business since 2011.