Wage and Hour Division (WHD)

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SAN FRANCISCO -- An Altadena garment manufacturer has agreed to pay $56,000 in back wages after a Labor Department investigation revealed that the company failed to pay back overtime wages as required by federal law. The case was settled on behalf of 43 garment workers, who will also receive $10,000 in civil money penalties.

Wage and Hour Division investigators found that Creaciones Zuleika, Inc., owned and operated by Teresa and Humberto Nuno, paid employees straight time and in cash for overtime hours worked, and did not keep adequate records of work hours. The Fair Labor Standards Act requires that employees earn no less than the federal minimum wage of $5.15 for all hours worked, and one-and-one-half times their regular rate for hours worked over 40 per week.

According to Tammy D. McCutchen, administrator of the Wage and Hour Division, the agency recovered more than $212 million in back wages in fiscal year 2003 -- a 21 percent increase over the previous year. "The Department of Labor is committed to strong enforcement of the law to ensure that all workers, particularly low-wage workers, are paid the overtime they are entitled to receive," said McCutchen. "We will use the full force of the law and we are pleased that these workers received more than $56,000 in back wages they worked hard for and deserve."

The Nunos signed a consent judgment filed in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. The back wages compensate employees for work cutting and sewing first communion and baptismal attire during the two-year period ending in June 2003. The Labor Department previously cited the firm following a 1993 investigation.

For more information about the FLSA, call the Los Angeles Wage and Hour office at (213) 894-6375 or the Department of Labor's toll-free help line at 1-866-4US WAGE (1-866-487-9243). Information is also available on the Internet at www.wagehour.dol.gov.

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