Wage and Hour Division (WHD)

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PORTLAND, Ore. -- Metro American Homebuyers LLC, has agreed to pay 10 former employees a total of $23,000 in overtime back wages and liquidated damages under terms of a consent judgment filed in Oregon federal district court.

According to Bonny Crosby, assistant district director for the U.S. Labor Department's Wage and Hour Division in Portland, the company and owner Randy Palazzo will pay the employees $21,393 in back wages and $1,606 in liquidated damages as a result of failing to pay overtime compensation as required by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

The Wage and Hour Division’s investigation of Metro American Homebuyers revealed that employees were instructed to record 40 or less hours of work a week on bi-weekly timesheets regardless of the number of hours they actually worked. Some employees also worked Saturdays for no compensation and under-recorded or did not record those hours on their timesheets. The investigation covered the period Aug. 9, 2002 through March 18, 2003.

Under the federal FLSA, covered employers are required to pay workers at least one and a half times the regular rate of pay for all hours worked over 40 in a workweek.

The company, which does business as Metro Housing and Redevelopment of Portland and Metro Housing LLC, purchased distressed properties for remodeling and resale. The affected workers were engaged in the general trades associated with home construction rehabilitation.

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 during that time decreased from 108 to 92 days.

For more information about the FLSA, call the Seattle Wage and Hour Office at 206-398-8039 or the department’s toll-free help line at 1-866-4USWAGE (1-866-487-9243). Information is also available at www.wagehour.dol.gov.

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