Matters Management

The federal overtime provisions are contained in the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Unless exempt, employees covered by the Act must receive overtime pay for hours worked over 40 in a workweek at a rate not less than time and one-half their regular rates of pay. There is no limit in the Act on the number of hours employees aged 16 and older may work in any workweek. The FLSA does not require overtime pay for work on Saturdays, Sundays, holidays, or regular days of rest, unless overtime is worked on such days.

Recovered:$1,000,000

Investigation findings

MCALLEN, TX – The U.S. Department of Labor’s recovery of more than $1 million in minimum and overtime wages owed to 859 home healthcare workers employed by two Texas companies show that improper pay practices in the industry remain a systemic problem in Texas and across the nation.

Specifically, division investigators found both employers failed to combine all hours worked for the purpose of calculating employees’ overtime wages. The employers paid the affected employees straight-time rates for all hours worked, including for hours over 40 in a workweek when an overtime rate applies. In addition, the division found Alegre Home Health Care and Pas Home Care adjusted employees’ established wage rates during weeks when they worked overtime to avoid paying the required overtime rates.

Recovered:$54,423

Investigation findings

Investigation findings: The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division found 53 locations of Boom-a-Rang Diner failed to include employee monthly performance bonuses to non-exempt management personnel in their regular pay rate when computing overtime wages, as required by the Fair Labor Standards Act.

The Department of Labor (Department) announced issuance of a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), Defining and Delimiting the Exemptions for Executive, Administrative, Professional, Outside Sales, and Computer Employees. The NPRM proposes to update and revise the regulations issued under section 13(a)(1) of the Fair Labor Standards Act implementing the exemption from minimum wage and overtime pay requirements for executive, administrative, and professional employees. Proposed revisions include increasing the standard salary level and the highly compensated employee total annual compensation threshold, as well as providing an automatic updating mechanism that would allow for the timely and efficient updating of all the thresholds to reflect current earnings data.

U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division investigators found a Clearwater roofing contractor of mobile and manufactured homes failed to pay overtime for hours worked over 40 in a workweek to 21 employees as required by the Fair Labor Standards Act . Specifically, the employer paid workers by the piece, but failed to pay the time-and-one-half rate for hours worked over 40. In addition, All Florida Weatherproofing did not include non-discretionary bonuses in the employees’ regular rate when computing overtime payments. The employer also failed to maintain time records outlining start and stop times for employees’ workdays.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division determined the two companies entered into an “employee lease agreement,” for which Jordi Construction provided leased workers to augment Stark Truss Baltimore’s workforce. Division investigators found that once “leased” employees worked 40 hours in a workweek for Jordi Construction at Stark Truss Baltimore’s worksite, they were directed to work additional hours under Stark Truss Baltimore. This arrangement led to the joint employers willfully paying affected employees straight time instead of the required overtime premium for hours worked over 40 in a workweek, a violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act.