The owner of fourteen northern Indiana and Illinois Dunkin Donuts and Baskin Robbins Ice Cream franchises has agreed to pay 213 low-wage workers $540,912 in back wages after the Department of Labor accused the stores of violating the overtime provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

The department alleged that the owner of the franchises paid straight-time wages for all hours worked by employees engaged in baking, frying, food preparation, and customer service. Once the department notified the company of its findings, the employer immediately made policy changes and agreed to pay the back wages in full, according to the department.

The FLSA requires covered employees to be paid the minimum wage for all hours worked and time and one-half their regular rate of pay for hours worked over 40 per week.

In 2004, the Department of Labor published new regulations governing who is eligible for overtime. For more information on how to comply with the new rules, see BLR's FLSA: Wage and Hour Self-Audit Guide. The self-audit guide won an APEX 2005 Grand Award.