Wage and Hour Division (WHD)

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DENVER -- The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division has announced that Sunflower Market Inc., a Colorado-based, organic-style grocery chain, has agreed to pay more than $125,000 in back wages to 78 workers in Boulder, Colorado, Las Vegas, Nevada, Albuquerque, New Mexico and Phoenix and Tempe, Arizona.

Sunflower was found to be misapplying the executive and administrative exemptions under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), which resulted in the workers being due $125,310 in overtime back wages.

Additionally, $10,670 in civil money penalties have been issued to the company for violations of child labor regulations. Six minors worked beyond 9 p.m. during the summer. The employer also was found in violation of Hazardous Occupation #12 by having a minor utilizing a box bailer.

“The Department of Labor is committed to enforcing the law and ensuring that employees receive the wages to which they are legally entitled,” said Alex Salaiz, director for the Wage and Hour Division’s Denver District Office. “Youth employment regulations exist to protect working minors and must be taken seriously.”

The FLSA, enforced by the Wage and Hour Division, requires that covered nonexempt workers be paid at least the federal minimum wage of $5.85 per hour for all hours worked. It also requires that workers be paid time and one-half their regular rates of pay for hours worked over 40 in a single workweek, and that employers maintain adequate and accurate records of employees’ wages, hours and other conditions of employment.

The department’s youth employment regulations identify 17 hazardous occupations prohibited for workers under the age of 18, including the operation of power-driven paper products machines such as scrap paper balers and paper box compactors. The basic minimum age for employment in nonagricultural occupations is 14. Fourteen- and 15-year-olds may work in certain occupations outside school hours, but not before 7 a.m. or later than 7 p.m. (9 p.m. from June 1 through Labor Day). They may not work more than three hours on a school day and 18 hours in a school week or eight hours on a non-school day and 40 hours in a week when school is not in session.

The Wage and Hour Division concluded 30,467 compliance actions and recovered a record $220 million in back wages for more than 341,000 employees in fiscal year 2007. Back-wage collections in fiscal year 2007 represent a 67 percent increase over back wages collected in fiscal year 2001. The number of workers receiving back wages has increased by 58 percent since fiscal year 2001.

For more information about the FLSA, call the Department of Labor’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243), contact the Wage and Hour Division’s Denver District Office at 303-264-3250, or visit the Internet at www.wagehour.dol.gov. Information about the law’s current exemption for white collar executive, administrative and professional employees can be found on the Internet at www.dol.gov/fairpay.

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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.