Wage and Hour Division (WHD)

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SAN FRANCISCO, CA -- A Saipan garment manufacturer has paid $238,460 in back wages to 431 workers following an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division. An investigation of Rifu Apparel Corporation found the company’s San Vicente and As-Lito factories had missed a payday in February and failed to pay workers overtime wages due.

“The Administration is committed to ensuring that workers are paid correctly for all hours worked, and we are pleased that $238,460 in back wages has been recovered for these workers," said U.S. Labor Secretary Elaine L. Chao.

The company has paid the back wages in full, as well as a $25,000 civil money penalty assessed by the Labor Department. Such penalties are assessed when the department has found violations during previous investigations of the company. The department found back wages due for a similar violation investigated in May 2003.

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requires that employees be paid one-and-one-half times their regular rate of pay for work hours in excess of 40 per week. The affected employees, most of whom are Chinese nationals from the Peoples Republic of China, produced women’s apparel.

The Wage and Hour Division recovered more than $212 million in back wages in fiscal year (FY) 2003 -- a 21 percent increase over the record setting amount in FY 2002. Average days to resolve a complaint decreased in FY 2003 from 129 days to 108 days. The Wage and Hour Division assessed employers nearly $10 million in civil money penalties in FY 2003.

For more information about federal wage and hour laws, call the Saipan field office at 670-233-0740 or the Department of Labor’s toll-free help line at 1-866-4US WAGE (1-866-487-9243). Information is also available on the Internet at www.wagehour.dol.gov.

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