Wage and Hour Division (WHD)

Printer-Friendly Version

Press Releases

SAN FRANCISCO -- Bonus Car Wash has paid $100,000 in back wages to 55 employees following an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division. Investigators found that the employees, who worked as many as 10 hours in a day, did not receive correct overtime pay and sometimes earned less than the federal minimum wage.

The Santa Monica company also failed to properly record the hours of work for these employees, who were car dryers, washers, detailers and ticket writers. The workers began receiving back wage payments in November 2006 for work performed between August 2004 and October 2005. Final back wage payments were completed in January.

“The Department of Labor is committed to the strong enforcement of labor laws,” said George Friday Jr., the Wage and Hour Division’s regional administrator for the western states. “In this case the low-wage workers were not properly compensated for their hours worked, and I am pleased we were able to recover $100,000 in back wages for them.”

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requires that covered employees be paid at least the federal minimum wage and receive overtime at one-and-one-half times their regular rate of pay for hours worked over 40 per week.

The Wage and Hour Division concluded 31,987 compliance actions in fiscal year 2006 and recovered more than $171 million in back wages for more than 246,000 employees. Back-wage collections last year represent a 30 percent increase over back wages collected in fiscal year 2001. The number of workers receiving back wages has increased by 14 percent since fiscal year 2001.

The Wage and Hour Division offers a Web site to help employers properly pay and classify their employees, www.wagehour.dol.gov. The site provides more information about the FLSA and an on-line tool for determining overtime eligibility -- the elaws FLSA Overtime Security Advisor -- at www.dol.gov/elaws/overtime.htm.

For more information about the laws the Wage and Hour Division enforces, call the Wage and Hour Division’s office in Los Angeles at (213) 894-6375 or the U.S. Department of Labor's toll-free help line at (866) 4US-WAGE (487-9243).

###

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.