Wage and Hour Division (WHD)

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TONTITOWN, Ark. -- Mi-De Design Inc. in Tontitown has agreed to pay $650,520 in back wages after an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division found 746 current and former employees nationwide did not receive overtime pay as required by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

The affected employees were primarily engaged in the installation of shelving and displays for Lowe’s Home Centers throughout the country. The department’s investigation, covering the two-year period from Feb.17, 2005, to Feb. 16, 2007, determined that Mi-De Design misclassified employees as exempt from overtime when, in fact, they were due overtime compensation. The company paid these employees a flat fee per installation completed, regardless of the number of hours it took them to complete the job.

“Workers are entitled to be paid their full wages for all hours worked,” said Cynthia Watson, the Wage and Hour Division’s southwestern regional administrator. “Some employees worked more than 65 hours a week without receiving overtime compensation. This practice is illegal.”

Mi-De Design Inc., which builds and installs shelving and displays, such as cabinets, doors and windows, has agreed to pay back wages in full by June 18, 2007, and also has agreed to future compliance with the law.

The FLSA requires that covered employees be paid at least the federal minimum wage for all hours worked, plus time and one-half their regular rates of pay for hours worked more than 40 per week, unless otherwise exempt. Earnings may be determined on a piece-rate, salary, commission, or some other basis, but in all such cases the overtime pay due must be computed on the basis of the average hourly rate derived from such earnings. 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 2001. The number of workers receiving back wages has increased by 14 percent since fiscal 2001.

For more information about the FLSA, call the department’s toll-free help line at (866) 4US-WAGE (487-9243); visit the Internet at www.wagehour.dol.gov; or contact the Wage and Hour Division’s district office in Little Rock, Ark., at (501) 223-9114.

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