Wage and Hour Division (WHD)

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Birmingham, Ala. -- Recently completed investigations by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division Hurricane Katrina Task Force resulted in agreements to pay $275,979 in back wages to 292 employees who worked in the Mississippi Gulf Coast region following the 2005 storm.

“The most common violation of law uncovered by the task force was the failure of these employers to pay overtime for hours worked beyond 40 hours in a workweek as required by the Fair Labor Standards Act,” said Oliver Peebles III, director of the Wage and Hour Division’s district office in Birmingham. “We are continuing to pursue back wages on other task force cases and expect to announce additional results soon,” he added.

Companies that have agreed to pay back wages for their failure to pay overtime include: North American Video, $13,473 to 12 employees; M&S Operations, $157,214 to 166 employees; Act Fast Construction, $1,856 to four employees; Angel Stucco Co., $22,704 to 28 employees; and P.R. Construction, $10,900 to 19 employees.

One company that was investigated, All in One Painting and Drywall, failed to properly pay employees overtime and refused, following the Labor Department’s investigation, to make restitution to the affected workers. The Wage and Hour Division established that Lawrence/Crane Theming & Design Concepts, which subcontracted the work to All in One Painting and Drywall, was a joint employer of All in One’s workers. Lawrence/Crane has agreed to pay back wages of $69,832 to 63 of its subcontractor’s employees.

Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, covered non-exempt employees must be paid time and one-half their regular rates of pay for all hours worked over 40 in a workweek.

For more information call the Department of Labor’s toll-free help line at 1-866-4US0WAGE (487-9243), visit the Internet at www.wagehour.dol.gov; or contact the Wage and Hour Division’s Birmingham District Office at 955 22nd St. N., Suite 656; telephone (205) 731-1305.

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