WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced a proposed rule to clarify and update the regulations governing regular rate requirements for the first time in more than 50 years.

Regular rate requirements define what forms of payment employers include and exclude in the "time and one-half" calculation when determining workers' overtime rates.

Under current rules, employers are discouraged from offering more perks to their employees as it may be unclear whether those perks must be included in the calculation of an employees' regular rate of pay.  The proposed rule focuses primarily on clarifying whether certain kinds of perks, benefits, or other miscellaneous items must be included in the regular rate. Because these regulations have not been updated in decades, the proposal would better define the regular rate for today's workplace practices. 

"The regular rate proposal would provide clarity for employers to allow them to add more benefits to their employees without unknown overtime consequences or litigation," said Keith Sonderling, Acting Administrator for the Department's Wage and Hour Division. "This proposed rule offers a positive path forward to employers and employees alike."

The Department proposes clarifications to confirm that employers may exclude the following from an employee's regular rate of pay:

• the cost of providing wellness programs, onsite specialist treatment, gym access and fitness classes, and employee discounts on retail goods and services;
• payments for unused paid leave, including paid sick leave;
• reimbursed expenses, even if not incurred "solely" for the employer's benefit;
• reimbursed travel expenses that do not exceed the maximum travel reimbursement under the Federal Travel Regulation System and that satisfy other regulatory requirements;
• discretionary bonuses, by providing additional examples and clarifying that the label given a bonus does not determine whether it is discretionary;
• benefit plans, including accident, unemployment, and legal services; and
• tuition programs, such as reimbursement programs or repayment of educational debt.

The proposed rule also includes additional clarification about other forms of compensation, including payment for meal periods, "call back" pay, and others.

More information about the proposed rule is available at www.dol.gov/whd/overtime/regularrate2019.htm. The Department encourages interested members of the public to submit comments about the proposed rule electronically at www.regulations.gov, in the rulemaking docket RIN 1235-AA24. Comments must be submitted by 11:59 pm on May 28, 2019 in order to be considered.

HINESVILLE, GA – The Liberty County Board of Commissioners will pay $209,106 in back wages to 131 employees for violations of the overtime and recordkeeping provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) found in a U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) investigation.

WHD investigators found the Hinesville, Georgia-based employer failed to pay courthouse guards, jail guards, and patrolmen for all the hours that they worked, including mandatory meetings, trainings, and occasions when they covered shifts for other employees. These unpaid hours resulted in overtime violations when the employees worked more than 40 hours in a workweek. The employer’s failure to keep accurate daily and weekly records of the hours employees worked also resulted in a FLSA recordkeeping violation.

“The Wage and Hour Division works to ensure that employees receive the wages they rightfully earned, and that employers compete on a level playing field,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Eric Williams, in Atlanta. “We encourage all employers to reach out to us and to use the wide variety of compliance tools we offer to help them understand their responsibilities. Violations like those found in this investigation can be avoided.”

For more information about the FLSA and other laws enforced by the Wage and Hour Division, contact the toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Information is also available at https://www.dol.gov/whd.

PROVIDENCE, RI – Following an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD), the Department of Labor has filed suit against Madeira Restaurant Inc. and The Waterfront Restaurant and Lounge Inc. – operators of two East Providence, Rhode Island, restaurants – and their owner Albertino Milho and managers David Milho, and Karen DaSilva, alleging willful violations of the overtime and recordkeeping requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The Department is asking the court to order the defendants to pay $90,261 - $45,130 in back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages – to 11 employees.

Filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island, the lawsuit charges that the defendants failed to pay employees overtime premiums when they worked more than 40 hours in a workweek. This included paying some employees with a check for their first 40 hours and in cash for hours above 40 at straight time, and paying other employees in cash for all their work hours at straight time.

The Department also alleges that the defendants failed to accurately record employees’ daily and weekly work hours and the cash payments they received.

“The defendants knew what the FLSA required of them yet intentionally disregarded or violated those requirements. In doing so, they not only deprived their employees of their hard-earned wages, they also undercut those competitors who choose to obey the law,” said Maia Fisher, the Department’s New England regional solicitor of labor.

“The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division will hold accountable employers who engage in fraudulent schemes meant to circumvent the requirements of the law. We strive to level the playing field for law-abiding competitors in the restaurant industry,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director David Gerrain in Hartford.

The Department is also asking the court to permanently enjoin and restrain the defendants from future overtime and recordkeeping FLSA violations.

WHD’s Hartford District Office conducted the original investigation. The Department’s Office of the Solicitor in Boston is litigating the case.

The Department provides numerous resources and tools to help employers understand their responsibilities and comply with federal law, such as online videos, confidential calls, or in-person visits to local Division offices. Employers who discover overtime or minimum wage violations may self-report and resolve those violations without litigation through the PAID program.

ALBUQUERQUE, NM - Following an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division (WHD), Santa Fe Picacho Hotel Management Corporation - doing business as Heritage Hotels & Resorts and Hotel Albuquerque at Old Town in Albuquerque - has paid $39,545 in back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages to 69 employees for violating the Fair Labor Standards Act’s (FLSA) overtime requirements.

WHD investigators found that the hotel corporation misclassified banquet workers as tipped employees and failed to include service charges earned by those workers when calculating their overtime rates. Instead of basing overtime rates on all of the wages employees had earned, the employer based overtime only on workers’ base hourly rates. This practice resulted in the employer paying overtime at rates lower than those required by law. Additional overtime violations took place when the employer failed to combine employees’ hours when they worked at multiple locations in the same workweek.

“Employers must pay workers all the wages they have legally earned,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Evelyn Sanchez, in Albuquerque. “The outcome of this investigation serves as a reminder to other employers to review their pay practices to ensure they are operating in compliance with the law. We will continue our work to ensure protections for workers, and a level playing field for employers. Violations like those in this case can be avoided.”

The Department offers numerous resources to ensure employers have the tools they need to understand their responsibilities and to comply with federal law, such as online videos, confidential calls, or in-person visits to local WHD offices.

For more information about the FLSA and other laws enforced by the Division, contact the toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Information is also available at www.dol.gov/whd including a search tool for workers who may be owed back wages collected by WHD.

LEBANON, OH – A Lebanon, Ohio, company that provides services to individuals with development disabilities has agreed to pay 84 employees a total of $37,658 – representing $18,829 in back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages – after an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division (WHD) found violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

WHD investigators found Visions Matter LLC failed to pay workers for time spent in work-related training, resulting in overtime violations when that unpaid time occurred during workweeks when employees worked more than 40 hours.

Additional overtime violations resulted from the employer's practice of paying overtime after employees worked 80 hours in two weeks, instead of after 40 hours in a single workweek, as the law requires. The FLSA allows employers to pay employees bi-weekly, but overtime must be tracked weekly.

Visions Matter also failed to maintain required records of each employee's daily and weekly hours worked and overtime pay rate, resulting in recordkeeping violations.

"The Wage and Hour Division works to ensure employers in all industries comply with federal law so that every employee receives the wages they have rightfully earned," said Wage and Hour District Director George Victory, in Columbus. "Employers must understand their responsibility to track and record all of the time their employees spend working. We encourage employers to use the wide variety of compliance tools we offer to explain those requirements, and to contact us for guidance."

For more information about the FLSA and other laws enforced by WHD, contact the Division's toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Information is also available at http://www.dol.gov/whd including a search tool to use if you think you may be owed back wages collected by the Division.

CEDAR FALLS, IA – The State of Iowa, Board of Regents - operating as the University of Northern Iowa - has entered into a settlement agreement to resolve alleged violations of an employee's protections under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) as found in a U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division (WHD) investigation.

WHD investigators determined that the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls, Iowa, failed to designate an employee's rights to FMLA leave properly when the employee requested such leave to care for an ill adult child. Instead, the employer terminated the worker's employment during what should have been a protected leave period.

In the settlement, the State of Iowa agreed to pay the custodian $59,688 in back wages and liquidated damages, and an amendment of the employee's personnel file to reflect her subsequent retirement.  

"The Family and Medical Leave Act protects employees in just this type of circumstance and allows critically needed workplace flexibility precisely when employees need it the most," said Wage and Hour Division Assistant District Director Adam Wombacher, in Des Moines. "We encourage employers to contact us for information to ensure they understand their responsibilities under the law. The Division provides a variety of tools for employers to ensure that they operate in compliance."

The state has also agreed to provide FMLA training to all supervisory employees in the university's custodial services and residence facilities administration as well as FMLA and American with Disabilities Act (ADA) training to the university's human resources department. The settlement agreement does not constitute an admission of wrongdoing by the State.

The FMLA entitles eligible employees of covered employers to take unpaid, job-protected leave for specified family and medical reasons. Workers and employers with questions about the FMLA and all of the federal wage laws administered by the Division should call the agency's toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). All calls are confidential. More information is available online at http://www.dol.gov/whd/.

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor announced today that the Office of the Federal Register has published the Department's Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that would make more than a million more American workers eligible for overtime under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

The official publication in the Federal Register marks the start of the proposal's public comment period, which will remain open for 60 days and close on May 21, 2019.

More information about the proposed rule is available at www.dol.gov/whd/overtime2019. The Department encourages any interested members of the public to submit comments about the proposed rule electronically at www.regulations.gov, in the rulemaking docket RIN 1235-AA20. Comments must be received by May 21, 2019 to be considered.

CITY OF OREM, UT – The City of Orem, Utah, has paid $16,350 in civil money penalties to resolve child labor violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) after the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) found the city employed 25 children under the age of 16 at its Scera Park Pools after 9 p.m. in the summers of 2017 and 2018.

The FLSA does not contain any hours requirements for minors 16 years of age and older.  Employees under the age of 16 may only work from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.; except between June 1 and Labor Day, when the evening hour is extended to 9 p.m.  In addition, these employees must work outside of school hours, not more than three hours on a school day, not more than eight hours on a non-school day, not more than 18 hours during a week when school is in session, and not more than 40 hours during a week when school is not in session.

“Child labor laws exist to provide meaningful work experience to young people while also keeping them safe on the job,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Kevin Hunt in Salt Lake City. “Employers must be aware of both federal and state laws that apply to workers under age 18. We encourage all employers to review their employment obligations and to contact the Wage and Hour Division for compliance assistance.”

The Department offers numerous resources and tools to help employers understand their responsibilities and comply with federal law, including a Youth Employment Compliance Assistance Toolkit.

Local WHD offices welcome confidential calls and in-person visits, and the Division’s library of online videos offers useful information on FLSA compliance. 

For more information about the FLSA, and other laws enforced by the Division, contact the toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Information is also available at www.dol.gov/whd including a search tool for workers who may be owed back wages collected by WHD.

ATHENS, AL – After an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division (WHD), the Limestone County Sheriff's Department – based in Athens, Alabama – will pay $49,968 in back wages to 126 employees for violations of the overtime and recordkeeping requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

WHD found the Limestone County Sheriff's Department failed to pay deputies for hours they worked when they were required to file warrants at the courthouse outside the hours of their scheduled shifts. In many instances, the courthouse was not open during officers' regularly scheduled shifts, so visits to the facility necessarily occurred outside of their regular work hours. The Limestone County Sheriff's Department failed to record this time or paid deputies for it.

WHD also found that the employer failed to pay employees for time they spent working at an annual fundraising event. Investigators determined that these hours worked by the employees did not meet the definition of "volunteer" work according to FLSA regulations when the sheriff's department pressured employees into working at the event and took adverse disciplinary action toward any employee who refused to volunteer.

"The resolution of this case serves as a reminder for local, county, and state governments that they are subject to the FLSA's requirements," said Wage and Hour District Director Kenneth Stripling, in Birmingham, Alabama. "Employees have a right to be paid for all of the hours that they work, and cannot be forced to volunteer their time. We encourage all employers to make use of the many tools we provide to help them understand their responsibilities and operate in compliance with the law."

For more information about the FLSA and other laws enforced by the Wage and Hour Division, contact the toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Employers who discover overtime or minimum wage violations may self-report and resolve those violations without litigation through the PAID program. Information is also available at https://www.dol.gov/whd.

GREENVILLE, SC – After investigations by the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division (WHD), Whiteford's Inc. – operator of 30 Kentucky Fried Chicken and Arby's fast food locations in South Carolina and Georgia, and based in Greenville, South Carolina – has paid $32,797 in back wages to 298 employees for violating the minimum wage and overtime provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

WHD investigators found the employer failed to include workers' performance-based bonuses in the calculation when determining their overtime rates, resulting in violations for assistant managers and shift leads who received these bonuses every four weeks. Excluding these amounts from the calculation resulted in the employer paying these workers overtime at rates lower than those required by law. The FLSA generally requires employers to pay overtime at one-and-one-half times workers' total earnings per hour, not just their base rates. 

In addition, the employer deducted a portion of some employees' wages for uniforms, which resulted in minimum wage violations when those deductions caused workers' hourly wages to dip below the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour.

"The outcome of this case puts these wages into the hands of those who earned them, and demonstrates how the U.S. Department of Labor's enforcement levels the playing field for law-abiding employers," said Wage and Hour Division District Director Jamie Benefiel, in Columbia. "We encourage all employers to make use of the many tools our Agency offers to help them understand their obligations and to avoid violations."

For more information about the FLSA and other laws enforced by the Wage and Hour Division, contact the toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Employers who discover overtime or minimum wage violations may self-report and resolve those violations without litigation through the PAID program. Information is also available at https://www.dol.gov/whd.