Wage and Hour Division (WHD)

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SAN FRANCISCO -- A Phoenix painting contractor has agreed to pay $48,773 in overtime back wages to 142 current and former workers following an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division. Additionally, the department assessed the company a civil money penalty of $62,480 for willfully misclassifying employees’ overtime hours and paying straight time for hours worked over 40 in a week.

Investigators found that the employees, who worked in excess of 40 hours a week, did not receive overtime pay as required by the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). DE Painting also failed to accurately record overtime hours for these workers, misclassifying them as a “truck expense” on a separate pay record.

DE Painting, owned by Frank Teichman of Peoria, Ariz., specializes in painting new residential tract homes.

“The Labor Department is committed to the strong enforcement of federal labor laws to ensure that workers receive the wages to which they are legally entitled,” said George Friday Jr., regional administrator for the Wage and Hour Division in the West. “In this case, the workers were not properly paid for all the hours they worked, and we were able to recover nearly $49,000 in back wages for them. Willfully misclassifying employees is unacceptable, and we will use the means available to us to ensure workers are paid according to federal law.”

The FLSA requires that covered employees be paid at least the federal minimum wage and receive overtime at one and one-half times their regular rates of pay for hours worked beyond 40 per week. Employers must also maintain accurate time and payroll records. The employees will receive back wages for work performed over a 15-month period.

The Wage and Hour Division recovered more than $171 million in back wages for more than 246,000 workers and assessed nearly $7.9 million in civil money penalties in fiscal year 2006. Back-wage collections in fiscal year 2006 represent a 30 percent increase over back wages collected in fiscal year 2001. The number of workers receiving back wages has increased by 14 percent since fiscal 2001.

The Wage and Hour Division offers a Web site, www.wagehour.dol.gov, to help employers understand their FLSA obligations. Additionally, an online tool – the elaws FLSA Overtime Security Advisor at www.dol.gov/elaws/overtime.htm – is available for determining overtime eligibility. For additional information, call the Wage and Hour Division’s office in Phoenix at 602-514-7120 or the Department of Labor’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243).

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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.