Wage and Hour Division (WHD)

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SAN FRANCISCO -- Saipan-based Ken Aqua Hotel and Resort has been ordered by the U.S. Department of Labor to pay $53,566 in overtime back wages to 173 current and former employees. The company must also pay $9,515 in civil penalties for repeat overtime violations. Ken Aqua Hotel and Resort, doing business as Ken Aqua Resort Club in Achugao, includes a hotel with two restaurants, a lounge and a spa.

Investigators from the department’s Wage and Hour Division determined that many employees were not paid overtime, though they worked more than 40 hours per week and had 30 minute lunch breaks deducted from their paid work time when actual time taken for lunch was less. Investigators also found that employees occasionally clocked in after beginning their work days, and staff musicians were routinely not paid for practice time.

The federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requires that employers keep accurate records of all hours worked, and covered employees receive no less than one and one-half times their regular rates of pay for any hours worked over 40 per workweek.

“The Department of Labor is committed to ensuring that workers are compensated for all the hours they work,” said George Friday Jr., regional administrator for the Wage and Hour Division in San Francisco.

The Wage and Hour Division recovered more than $171 million in back wages for more than 246,000 workers and assessed nearly $7.9 million in civil money penalties in federal fiscal year 2006. For general information about the FLSA, call the Department of Labor’s toll-free help line at (866) 4US-WAGE (487-9243) or visit the Wage and Hour Division’s Web site 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.