Wage and Hour Division (WHD)

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CLEVELAND --

A chain of auto repair centers has paid $157,840 in overtime back wages to 87 employees following an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’ Wage and Hour Division. True2Form Collision Repair Centers, headquartered in Cleveland, has 31 locations in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and North Carolina.

“The Labor Department is committed to vigorously enforcing the law to ensure that employees are paid all wages they are owed,” said Barry Haber, Wage and Hour district director in Cleveland. “Workers generally must be paid overtime pay after 40 hours in a week unless they are exempt and meet specific salary and job duty tests established for white-collar executive, administrative or professional employees.”

The Wage and Hour Division investigated True2Form under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), the federal minimum wage and overtime law. The investigation disclosed that 68 salaried estimators, office managers and corporate office support staff were misclassified as exempt from overtime pay. The department also found violations that resulted from the failure to include bonuses and incentives in the calculation of the overtime pay rate for hourly employees. In addition, True2Form failed to keep an accurate record of hours worked by some employees. The violations occurred from June 2003 through June 2005.

The FLSA requires that employers pay covered employees the minimum wage for all hours worked and time and one-half the regular rate of pay for hours worked over 40 in a week. Non-discretionary bonuses and incentive pay must be added to straight-time earnings to correctly calculate the additional overtime compensation. Employers must also maintain accurate time and payroll records.

The FLSA provides an exemption from both minimum wage and overtime pay for bona fide executive, administrative and professional sales employees. To qualify for the exemption, employees generally must meet certain job duty and salary tests. Under the Labor Department’s new “Overtime Security” rules, workers earning less than $23,660 per year – or $455 per week – are guaranteed overtime protection.

The Wage and Hour Division recovered nearly $200 million in back wages in fiscal year 2004 for more than 288,000 workers. For more information about the FLSA, call 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. Information about the exemption for executive, administrative and professional employees can be found on the Internet at www.dol.gov/fairpay.

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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.