Wage and Hour Division (WHD)

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HOUSTON, Texas -- Fulton Seafood in Houston, Texas, has agreed to pay $79,582 in back wages to 17 current and former seafood processing production and packing workers after a U.S. Department of Labor investigation found the employees had not been properly paid as required by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

An investigation by the department’s Wage and Hour Division district office in Houston, covering the period from Jan. 21, 2005, to Jan. 20, 2007, determined that Fulton Seafood had paid a weekly salary without overtime to all non-exempt employees. The employer also failed to keep proper records.

“All employees are entitled to be paid the wages they have rightfully earned,” said Cynthia Watson, the Wage and Hour Division’s regional administrator in the Southwest. “The employer failed to pay overtime to some employees who worked between 48 and 60 hours per week.”

Fulton Seafood, a seafood wholesaler, is engaged in the import and resale of seafood to restaurants and supermarkets in and outside of Texas.

The company has agreed to pay the back wages in full by May 2 and also has agreed to continued full compliance with the law.

The FLSA requires that covered employees be paid the federal minimum wage for all hours worked, plus time and one-half their regular rates of pay for hours worked over 40 per week. Under this law, employers must also maintain accurate time and payroll records.

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 fiscal year 2001.

For more information about the FLSA, call the U.S. Department of Labor’s toll-free help line at (866) 4US-WAGE (487-9243) or the Wage and Hour Division’s Houston District Office at (713) 339-5500. Information is also available on the Internet at www.wagehour.dol.gov.

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