Wage and Hour Division (WHD)

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COLUMBUS, Ohio --

The U.S. Labor Department today announced the recovery of $37,792 in overtime back pay for 138 employees of HHP Corporation, doing business as Roto Rooter, 2549 Stanley Ave., Dayton, Ohio following an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division.

The workers were employed as service technicians at residential and commercial job sites in the Dayton area and as office employees. The Labor Department’s investigation found that the company automatically deducted lunch periods from employees’ time even though in many cases they were working during that time. The uncompensated hours resulted in overtime pay violations. HHP Corporation cooperated fully during the course of the investigation, which covered a two-year period beginning in January 2004.

“Federal law requires in most cases that workers be paid time and one-half after 40 hours in a single workweek,” said George Victory, district director of the Wage and Hour Division’s office in Columbus. “When workers are not paid appropriately under the law, we will act to recover those wages for them.”

The Wage and Hour Division, part of the Labor Department’s Employment Standards Administration, enforces the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The law requires that covered employees be paid at least the federal minimum wage of $5.15 per hour and time and one-half their regular rate of pay for hours worked over forty in a single workweek, unless otherwise exempt. It also requires employers to maintain accurate time and payroll records.

For more information about the FLSA, call the Department of Labor’s toll-free help line at (866) 4USWAGE (487-9243). Information is also available on the Internet at www.wagehour.dol.gov.

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