Wage and Hour Division (WHD)

Printer-Friendly Version

Press Releases

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Entertainment Distribution Co., a manufacturer of music and video discs in Grover, N.C., has agreed to pay $101,656 in back wages to 279 employees as a result of an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division.

Investigators determined that the employer violated the overtime provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) when it failed to include shift differentials in its calculation of overtime payments due employees. The company paid night shift employees a shift differential on the first 40 hours of work each week but did not include the differential in their regular rates when calculating overtime payments.

“The Labor Department is committed to ensuring that employees receive all the wages owed them,” said Maxine Mills, assistant district director for the Wage and Hour Division’s office in Charlotte. “Federal law does not require employers to pay shift differentials, but if they choose to pay them, then employers are required to include the shift differential in an employee’s regular rate when paying for overtime hours for FLSA-covered, nonexempt employees.”

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 and other laws administered by the Wage and Hour Division, call the Department of Labor’s toll-free helpline at (866) 4US-WAGE (487-9243) or contact the division’s Charlotte District Office at 800 Briar Creek Road, Suite CC-412; telephone (704) 344-6302. Information is also available on the Internet at www.wagehour.dol.gov.

###

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.