Wage and Hour Division (WHD)

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HOUSTON -- The U.S. Department of Labor announced today that Medrecon Ltd. of Bellaire, Texas, has paid 49 current and former transcribers and typists $118,406 in back wages for overtime violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

An investigation by the Wage and Hour Division, covering the two-year period Feb. 8, 2003 to Feb. 7, 2005, determined that Medrecon, doing business as Medical Research Consultants, failed to pay time-and-a-half to transcribers and typists. Hourly employees were paid straight-time; salaried, non-exempt employees were paid $10 an hour for hours worked over 40 in a workweek or a 40-hour salary instead of overtime.

“The transcribers, many of whom worked outside the office from home, were classified by the employer as contract workers and paid straight time for hours worked over 40 in a workweek,” said Cynthia Watson, regional administrator for the department’s Wage and Hour Division in Dallas. “In this case, the criteria used to classify the at-home and in-office workers as contract labor was not met and these workers were entitled to be paid their full overtime wages.”

Additionally, the employer failed to maintain accurate payroll records as required by the FLSA. Medrecon, which manages, documents and retrieves medical records for litigation, cooperated in the investigation and has agreed to future compliance with the FLSA. All back wages have been paid in full.

The FLSA requires that covered employees be paid the minimum wage for all hours worked plus time and one-half their regular rate of pay for hours worked over 40 per week. Employers must also maintain accurate time and payroll records.

The Wage and Hour Division recovered nearly $200 million in back wages in fiscal year 2004 for more than 288,000 workers. Average days to resolve a complaint decreased during that time from 108 to 92 days.

For more information about the FLSA, call the Wage and Hour Houston district office at (713) 339-5500 or the Department of Labor’s toll-free help line at 1-866-4USWAGE (1-866-487-9243). Information is also available on the Internet at www.wagehour.dol.gov.

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