Wage and Hour Division (WHD)

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CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Derrick Music Co., Charleston, W.Va., has agreed to pay $56,550 in back wages to 14 employees after a U.S. Labor Department investigation found the company violated the minimum wage and overtime provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

The investigation, conducted by the Pittsburgh District Office of the department’s Wage and Hour Division, determined that the company paid employees a flat salary regardless of the number of hours worked, and failed to pay one employee the required minimum wage.

“The Labor Department is committed to ensuring that companies comply with the law so that employees are properly compensated for all of the hours they work,” said John DuMont, district director of the wage and hour Pittsburgh office.

Under a consent judgment filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia, the company is permanently enjoined from violating provisions of the FLSA in the future.

The FLSA requires that employees be paid the federal minimum wage and overtime at time and one-half their regular rates of pay for all hours worked in excess of 40 per week, unless otherwise exempt. The FLSA also contains recordkeeping requirements and youth employment standards.

The Wage and Hour Division concluded 31,987 compliance actions and recovered more than $171 million in back wages for more than 246,000 employees in fiscal year 2006. 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 2001.

For more information on the FLSA, call the Department of Labor’s toll-free help line at (866) 4US-WAGE (487-9243). Information is also available on the Internet at www.wagehour.dol.gov.

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