Wage and Hour Division (WHD)

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SAN FRANCISCO -- The U.S. Department of Labor has reached agreement with an Azusa firm to pay $131,011 in overtime back wages for 167 employees. Investigators for the department’s Wage and Hour Division found that Creative Communication Technologies Inc., which provides cable and modem installation services, failed to pay installers the premium overtime rate required by the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

“Employers should fully understand their obligations under the law and assure that all their employees are paid proper overtime,” said George Friday Jr., regional administrator of the department’s Wage and Hour Division, which administers the FLSA.

The department’s investigation found that Creative Communication Technologies paid workers who installed cable and modems on a piece-rate basis, failed to keep records of the actual hours employees worked and recorded only the number of jobs employees were assigned. Workers were not paid the required additional half-time premium when they worked more than 40 hours a week. The FLSA requires that employers keep accurate records of all hours worked, including when workers are paid on a piece-rate basis, and that nonexempt employees earn no less than one-and-one-half times their regular rate of pay for any hours worked over 40 per workweek.

The investigation also determined that the employer made illegal deductions for uniforms, equipment or damage to customers’ property.

Creative Communication Technologies provides installation services to Adelphia and Charter Communication customers in a service area that reaches from Oxnard to Victorville. The investigation covered hours worked between December 2002 and December 2004.

For more information about the FLSA, call the East Los Angeles Wage and Hour office at 626-966-0478, or the Department of Labor's toll-free help line at 1-866-4US WAGE (1-866-487-9243). Information is also available on the Internet at www.wagehour.dol.gov.

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