The products they design, engineer and manufacture may be high-tech, but inspectors of the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division found that Advanced Design, Engineering & Manufacturing (Adem), LLC of Santa Clara violated provisions of a law dating back 75 years.
More than three dozen workers at the Silicon Valley company will receive more than $282,000 in overtime and damages after investigators found Adem violated the Fair Labor Standards Act amid widespread wage violations. The division determined the company did not pay its workers the required one and one-half times the regular pay for hours worked beyond 40 hours in a work week. Investigators also found Adem instead paid straight time rates for these hours, and disguised the wages on their records as bonuses. Several workers who were claimed to be exempt were, in fact, entitled to overtime pay, the investigation revealed.
“Falsifying records to disguise overtime as straight time, and labeling the payments as bonuses is illegal and unacceptable,” said San Francisco Wage and Hour District Director Susana Blanco. “Failing to pay legally required overtime hurts workers and their families, and it gives Adem an unfair competitive advantage over law-abiding employers. This agency works to protect employees and level the playing field for employers.”
As a result of the investigation, the company will pay $141,410 in back wages to 38 employees, an equal amount in liquidated damages and $14,212 in civil money penalties because the violations were found to be willful.
Adem designs, engineers and manufactures special and/or automated fixtures for assembly lines. It supports the semiconductor equipment, robotic automation, aerospace, defense, scientific instruments, medical and energy industries.
Source: DOL
This information is intended to be
educational and should not be considered legal advice on any specific matter.
