Wage and Hour Division (WHD)

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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. --

SEI, a Huntsville, Ala., engineering firm, has agreed to pay $464,342 in back overtime wages to 103 employees after an investigation by the U.S. Labor Department’s Wage and Hour Division found the company violated provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

During the time period covered by the Wage and Hour Division investigation, April 2004 through April 2006, the company paid engineers, architects, CADD operators, accountants and program managers an hourly rate of pay in lieu of a guaranteed salary.

Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, employees whose wages are paid on an hourly basis, in most cases, are entitled to time and one-half their regular rate of pay after working 40 hours in a single workweek,” said Oliver Peebles III, Wage and Hour’s district director for the Gulf Coast district office in Birmingham. “Our investigation revealed, however, that these professional and technical employees were paid only for the hours they worked. Those hours ranged from 8 hours a work week to as many as 84 in a work week.”

Investigators determined that when these employees worked more than 40 hours in a work week wages for the over-forty hours were not paid at one and one-half times the regular rate as required by the FLSA.

The company cooperated fully during the investigation, agreed to pay the back wages, maintain accurate records and comply fully with the Fair Labor Standards Act in the future.

Information about the current exemption for executive, administrative, and professional employees can be found on the Internet at www.dol.gov/fairpay.

The Labor Department also offers a user-friendly Web site to help employers properly pay and classify their employees and an on-line tool for determining overtime eligibility called the E-laws FLSA Overtime Security Advisor, which can be found at www.dol.gov/elaws/overtime.htm.

For more information, call the Department of Labor’s toll-free help line at 1 (866) 4US-WAGE (487-9243), visit the Internet at www.wagehour.dol.gov, or contact the Gulf Coast district office at 955 22nd St. N., Suite 656, Birmingham, Ala.; (205) 731-1305.

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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.