Wage and Hour Division (WHD)

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COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- The U.S. Department of Labor today announced that four school districts in the Colorado Springs, Colorado, area have paid a total of $729,477 to 433 employees for violations of the overtime provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

“We are committed to ensuring that workers receive all the wages they have earned,” said Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao. “I am pleased that we were able to recover over $700,000 in unpaid overtime wages for these Colorado workers.”

The majority of the violations resulted from employees working off the clock and employees working in two different job positions without proper overtime compensation. Separate investigations by the department’s Wage and Hour Division revealed the following back wage recoveries and number of affected employees for each district:

• Air Academy District 20, $364,799 for 250 employees
• Widefield Alternative Three, $147,194 for 86 employees
• Falcon District 49, $145,828 for 71 employees
• Lewis Palmer, $ 71,656 for 26 employees

Once the violations were brought to the attention of district officials, each school district cooperated with the investigation, came into compliance with federal overtime law and paid the back wages it was determined that workers were due.

The FLSA requires that covered workers be paid at least the federal minimum wage for all hours worked. It also requires that workers are paid one and one-half their regular rate of pay for hours worked over 40 in a single workweek and that employers maintain adequate and accurate records of employees’ wages, hours and other conditions of employment. The Wage and Hour Division recovered nearly $200 million in back wages in fiscal year 2004 for more than 288,000 workers. Average days to resolve a complaint decreased during that time from 108 days to 92 days.

For more information about the FLSA, call the Department of Labor's toll-free help line at 1-866-4USWAGE (1-866-487-9243), or contact the Denver District Office at (303) 264-3250. Information is also available on the Internet at www.wagehour.dol.gov.

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U.S. Department of Labor releases are accessible on the Internet at www.dol.gov. The information in this news release will be made available in alternate format (large print, Braille, audio tape or disc) from the COAST office upon request. Please specify which news release when placing your request at (202) 693-7828 or TTY (202) 693-7755. The Labor Department is committed to providing America’s employers and employees with easy access to understandable information on how to comply with its laws and regulations. For more information, please visit www.dol.gov/compliance.