Wage and Hour Division (WHD)

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FREEPORT, Texas -- The DOW Chemical Co. in Freeport has paid $861,647 in overtime back wages after a U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division investigation found that 648 operating engineers had not been properly paid as required by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

The investigation, covering the two-year period from July 1, 2005, to June 30, 2007, determined that the company had violated the FLSA by failing to properly pay employees overtime wages and maintain required recordkeeping.

“Employees are entitled to receive the wages to which they are legally entitled,” said Cynthia Watson, regional administrator for the Wage and Hour Division in the Southwest. “The employer failed to compensate employees for hours spent studying during mandatory training. This practice is unacceptable.”

DOW Chemical, a chemical manufacturing company headquartered in Midland, Mich., has paid all back wages to the 648 operating engineers and agreed to future FLSA compliance.

The FLSA requires that covered employees be paid at least the federal minimum wage of $5.85 for all hours worked, plus time and one-half their regular rates of pay, including commissions, bonuses and incentive pay, for hours worked beyond 40 per week. Employers must also maintain accurate time and payroll records. Under the FLSA, training must be counted as working time unless four criteria are met, namely: It is outside normal hours; it is voluntary; it is not job-related; and no other work is concurrently performed.

The Wage and Hour Division concluded 30,467 compliance actions and recovered a record $220 million in back wages for more than 341,000 employees in fiscal year 2007. Back-wage collections in fiscal year 2007 represent a 67 percent increase over back wages collected in fiscal year 2001. The number of workers receiving back wages has increased by 58 percent since fiscal year 2001.

For more information about the FLSA, call the Department of Labor’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243) or contact the Wage and Hour Division’s Houston District Office at 713-339-5500. Information is also available on the Internet at www.wagehour.dol.gov.

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