Careerbuilder.com has paid $524,216 to 677 workers to resolve Department of Labor allegations that the company violated the overtime rules of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).
The Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division (WHD) has reported that it recovered more than $166 million in back wages in 2005, down from more than $196 million in 2004.
A Chicago-based worker advocacy organization has filed a lawsuit against the Department of Labor, seeking the names of thousands of "unlocatable" workers who are owed back wages from government settlements with employers.
The inspector general of the Department of Labor has issued a report criticizing
the department's agreement to give Wal-Mart 15 days' notice
before an investigation.
The chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico
has ordered Action Force Security to pay $2.2 million in back wages and damages
to more than 600 employees.
The Wage and Hour Division, which examined payroll records between January 1 and December 31, 2004, said that supervisors at Harmon Corporation asked employees to donate two hours a week of overtime work over a five-month period and failed to pay them for the overtime.
Audits are generally triggered either when a current or former employee files a complaint with the DOL or when the DOL targets a specific industry for investigation.
Knowles Security in Orange County, California has agreed to pay $101,695 to
11 low-wage security guards who the Department of Labor says were paid straight
time for all hours worked, even when the employees worked more than 40 hours
in a workweek.
Investigators from the Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division said the company failed to pay workers for short breaks, lunch periods, and hours worked prior
to and following assigned shifts.
U.S. Representative George Miller, D-California, is urging the Department of
Labor's Inspector General to review an agreement between Wal-Mart and the department
that would give the company 15 days of notice before the department investigates
certain complaints, the Hartford Courant reports.
