Wage and Hour Division (WHD)

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HIGHLAND, Ind. -- Some 445 employees of Strack and Van Til (SVT) supermarkets and other full service grocery stores owned by Highland-based SVT LLC will receive a total of $78,622 in unpaid wages because the company has agreed it erred in computing overtime.

The agreement was reached following an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division that determined the company had violated the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) by failing to include shift differentials when computing the overtime pay rate. Company officials agreed with the Labor Department’s findings, corrected the pay computation method for future compliance and agreed to pay the back wages owed.

“The Labor Department is committed to ensuring that all workers receive all wages they have earned,” said Patricia Lewis, director of the Wage and Hour Division’s district office in Indianapolis. “We do not believe that this company intended harm to its employees, and we are pleased with the cooperative and forthright manner in which this error was corrected.”

The investigation covered the period from July 2005 to July 2007. Employees at 27 SVT-owned groceries in the greater Chicago area and northwest Indiana are covered by the agreement.

The FLSA requires employees to be paid the federal minimum wage for all hours worked, and time and one-half the “regular rate” of pay for hours over 40 in a week unless an employee is exempt from overtime pay. The regular rate includes an employee’s hourly rate plus the value of some other types of compensation, such as bonuses and shift differentials. Under the 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 in fiscal year 2006 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 Department of Labor’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Information is also available on the Internet at www.wagehour.dol.gov.

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