Wage and Hour Division (WHD)

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CHARLOTTE, N.C. --

Sipes Orchard Homes has agreed to pay $60,703 in back overtime wages to 32 employees working at its residential treatment facility for children in Conover, N.C., after the U.S. Labor Department’s Wage and Hour Division determined the company had violated the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

“Incorrectly determining compensable hours covered employees work is a common type of violation in the residential care industry,” said John Blaine, Wage and Hour’s district director in Charlotte. “Employees working tours of duty less than 24 hours must be paid for sleep time.”

Wage and Hour investigators determined that, from January 2004 to December 2005, the company deducted eight hours of sleep time for employees who worked 16 hours a day. Since these hours were not included as work time, the affected employees were not paid for all hours worked or at an overtime rate when they worked more than 40 hours in a work week.

The FLSA requires that employers pay covered non-exempt workers one-and-one half times their regular rate of pay for all hours worked over 40 in a single work week. Employers must also maintain accurate records of employees’ wages, hours and other conditions of employment.

For more information about the FLSA and other laws administered by the Wage and Hour Division, call the department’s toll-free help line at 1-866-4USWAGE (1-866-487-9243); visit the Internet at www.wagehour.dol.gov; or contact the Charlotte Wage and Hour Division office, Mart Office Building, 800 Briar Creek Road, Suite CC-412, phone: (704) 344-6302. Additional information on the overtime provisions of the FLSA is available 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.