Ludvik Electric Co. in Lakewood paid $75,020 in overtime back wages to 139 current and former electricians after an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division found violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act’s overtime and hours worked provisions.
“Not paying for training time or required meetings is illegal and hurts workers and their families,” said Cynthia Watson, regional administrator for the Wage and Hour Division in the Southwest. “All hours worked more than 40 per week must be paid at time and one-half the regular rate—this includes all company meetings.”
An investigation by the division’s Denver District Office found that the employer did not include nondiscretionary safety bonuses in the employees’ regular rate of pay and when computing overtime compensation for those hours worked over 40 in a workweek. Additionally, the employer did not compensate employees for overtime hours spent in company meetings, in direct violation of the hours worked provisions of the FLSA.
According to the FLSA, meetings, training programs and similar activities need to be compensated, except as stated in the Act. For more information on the hours worked provisions of the FLSA, visit http://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/whdfs22.htm.
Ludvik Electric, a large electrical contractor in Arizona and Colorado, has agreed to comply with the FLSA in the future by paying workers time and one-half the employee’s regular-rate of pay, which includes nondiscretionary bonuses after 40 hours in a workweek, and by paying employees for all required meeting and training time. Payment of back wages was made in full.
The FLSA requires that covered, nonexempt employees be paid at least the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour for all hours worked, plus time and one-half their regular rates, including commissions, bonuses, piece-rate earnings and incentive pay, for hours worked beyond 40 per week. In general, hours worked includes all time an employee must be on duty, or on the employer’s premises or at any other prescribed place of work, from the beginning of the first principal work activity to the end of the last principal activity of the workday. Additionally, the law requires that accurate records of employees’ wages, hours and other conditions of employment be maintained.
Source: DOL
This information is intended to be
educational and should not be considered legal advice on any specific matter.
