Wage and Hour Division (WHD)

Printer-Friendly Version

Press Releases

EL PASO, Texas -- The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division today announced that Flex Enterprises L.P. in El Paso has agreed to pay $66,061 in back wages after an investigation found that 143 current and former office personnel were underpaid.

“This company not only failed to maintain an accurate accounting of the hours employees worked, they also failed to pay wages to employees who rightfully earned overtime,” said Cynthia Watson, regional administrator for wage and hour in Dallas. “Some employees worked as many as 60 hours in a workweek and received no overtime pay.”

An investigation by the department’s Albuquerque Wage and Hour Division district office covering the two-year period July 1, 2002 to June 30, 2004, found that the company misclassified certain workers as exempt from a Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requirement to pay overtime compensation. The employees did not meet the requirements to qualify for the exemption and were due overtime pay for hours worked in excess of 40 in a week.

The FLSA requires covered employees to be paid the minimum wage of $5.15 for all hours worked and time-and-one-half their regular rate of pay for hours worked over 40 per week. Employers must also maintain accurate time and payroll records.

Flex Enterprises, an exercise and physical fitness company which operates seven locations in the El Paso area under the name EP Fitness, has agreed to pay the back wages by July 2005 and comply with the FLSA in the future.

The Wage and Hour Division recovered nearly $200 million in back wages in fiscal year 2004 for more than 288,000 workers. Average days to resolve a complaint decreased in the same time period from 108 to 92 days.

For more information about the FLSA, call the Wage and Hour Albuquerque district office at (505) 245-2142 or the Labor Department’s toll-free help line at 1-866-4USWAGE (1-866-487-9243.) Information is also available on the Internet at www.wagehour.dol.gov.

###

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.