Wage and Hour Division (WHD)

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JACKSON, MISS. -- A. U.S. District Court Judge for the Southern District of Mississippi has ordered Scott Penn, Inc., located in Canton, Miss., to pay 27 employees $34,180 in overtime back wages following a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Department of Labor. The suit alleged violations of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

In May 2003, an investigation by the department’s Wage and Hour Division determined that the company failed to pay covered employees at the required overtime rate and failed to maintain accurate employee time and payroll records. At the conclusion of that investigation, the company reimbursed the affected workers.

The department filed suit after a second investigation revealed that the company required some of these employees to return the recovered wages, continued to pay covered employees a straight time rate when they worked overtime, and failed to maintain accurate records.

“The Wage and Hour Division is committed to enforcing the law to ensure that employees receive the full wages they earn,” said Billy Jones, Wage and Hour’s district director in Jackson.

As ordered by the court, the company has paid the back wages and $4,913 in civil money penalties, and agreed to future compliance with the FLSA. The FLSA requires employees to be paid the minimum wage for all hours worked and, unless exempt, 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. The FLSA provides for the assessment of civil money penalties for repeated and willful violations.

The WHD recovered more than $212 million in back wages in fiscal year (FY) 2003, a 21 percent increase over the record setting amount of FY 2002. Average days to resolve a complaint decreased in FY 2003 from 129 days to 108 days. WHD assessed employers nearly $10 million in civil money penalties in FY 2003.

For more information about the FLSA, call the Department of Labor’s toll-free help line at 1-866-4USWAGE (1-866-487-9243) or the Gulf Coast Wage and Hour Division office located in the Dr. A.H. McCoy Federal Building, 100 W. Capitol, Suite 608, Jackson, Miss.; phone: (601) 965-4347. Information is also available on the Internet at www.wagehour.dol.gov.

Chao vs. Scott Penn, Inc.

Docket No. 3:04-cv-863-LN

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