Wage and Hour Division (WHD)

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SAN FRANCISCO, CA -- A Westlake Village, Calif. company has reached an agreement with the U.S. Department of Labor to pay $1,254,569 in back wages to 435 employees. Homestore, Inc. provides services and Web-based products in the real estate industry through its Web sites, Realtor.com, Homebuilder.com and RentNet.com. The employees receiving back wages sold advertising displayed on the Web sites.

"Both this action and our new Overtime Security rules reflect our commitment to protecting the overtime rights of workers," said Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao. "In this case, inside sales personnel were not receiving their rightful overtime pay, and this Administration took action to restore back wages to more than 400 employees. Workers' overtime rights are further strengthened by our new Overtime Security rules, which increase protections for millions of workers by updating and clarifying the old regulations.”

Investigators for the Labor Department’s Wage and Hour Division found that the company paid employees straight time for overtime hours worked. The Fair Labor Standards Act requires, in part, that eligible employees earn one-and-one-half times their regular rate for hours worked over 40 per week. Investigators determined that the work the employees performed was inside sales work, mainly telemarketing, and would not exempt the workers from overtime pay. The employer had paid the employees a salary plus commissions, and did not keep a record of the hours worked.

Homestore, Inc. agreed to comply with the department’s findings by re-classifying the employees and voluntarily extended the back wage period beyond the two-year statute. The back wages reflect work performed between April 12, 2002 and Oct. 10, 2004. The employees worked in four company divisions: Realtor.com, Homebuilder.com, RentNet.com and Retail/NAS.

The Wage and Hour Division recovered more than $212 million in back wages in fiscal year (FY) 2003, a 21 percent increase over the record setting amount of FY 2002. Average days to resolve a complaint decreased in FY 2003 from 129 days to 108 days. WHD assessed employers nearly $10 million in civil money penalties in FY 2003.

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

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