The U. S. Department of Labor has reached an agreement with an Ontario, Calif.
flooring and tile company for the firm to pay $228,156 in unpaid overtime to
52 employees. The agreement settles charges that the company violated the overtime
pay provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).
An investigation by the Labor Department's Wage and Hour Division revealed
that Lambard, Inc. failed to pay employees overtime rates of at least one and
one half times their regular pay rates for hours over forty worked in a work
week, as federal law requires.
"The law requires that employees must be paid adequately for all the hours
worked," says U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao. "The Wage and
Hour Division at the Department of Labor is ready and willing to help employers
understand and comply with the federal law, and we will vigorously enforce these
laws to protect workers when necessary."
Under the terms of the judgment, Lambard agreed to pay overtime back wages
for the period Oct. 1, 2000 through April 29, 2002. The amount of back wages
owed employees ranged from $126 to $30,771, according to Don Wiley, district
director for the Wage and Hour Division in West Covina.
Wage and Hour Division enforces the FLSA, which requires that covered employees
be paid the federal minimum wage of $5.15 per hour for all hours worked and
time and one-half their regular rate of pay for hours worked over 40 in a workweek.
