Wage and Hour Division (WHD)

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GUAYNABO, Puerto Rico -- CC1 Limited Partnership, doing business as Coca-Cola Puerto Rico Bottlers, an independent beverage distributor in Bayamón, Puerto Rico, has paid 88 employees $200,000 in overtime back wages as the result of a U.S. Labor Department Investigation.

According to David R. Heffelfinger, district director of the Labor Department’s Wage and Hour Division in Guaynabo, an investigation found employees were not properly compensated for all the hours they worked, and that the employer had improperly classified delivery drivers as exempt from overtime pay. These misclassified workers were paid a salary plus commissions with no overtime premium compensation.

He explained that the company claimed the outside sales exemption from overtime pay for these employees but the investigation uncovered that these delivery route drivers had not engaged in sales. They simply transported company products to various vending machine locations, stocked the machines and made sure they were operating properly. The 88 workers due the back wages included 54 employees and 34 former employees.

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requires that employees be paid at least the applicable federal minimum wage and time and one-half their regular rate of pay for hours worked more than 40 in a workweek unless otherwise exempt. Employers must also maintain accurate records of employees’ wages, hours and other conditions of employment.

“Fortunately,” said Heffelfinger, “when we brought the violations to the attention of this employer, and after extensive negotiations, they agreed to come into full compliance with the FLSA and pay these employees all the back wages due them.”

The Labor Department’s Guaynabo Wage and Hour Division office investigated this case. For more information about the requirements of the FLSA, call the Department of Labor’s toll-free help line at 1-866-4USWAGE (1-866-487-9243) or contact the Guaynabo Wage and Hour office at 787-775-1947. Information is also available on the Internet at www.wagehour.dol.gov.

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