Wage and Hour Division (WHD)

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ATLANTA -- Lafarge North America has paid almost $147,000 in back overtime wages to 51 employees, after the U.S. Department of Labor determined that the Alpharetta, Ga., company violated the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

“The Labor Department is committed to ensuring that employees receive the wages they have earned,” said Alfred B. Robinson, deputy administrator of the Wage and Hour Division. “In this case, $146,900 was recovered for these hourly-paid workers.”

An investigation by the department’s Wage and Hour Division determined that, between March 2003 and February 2005, the company failed to pay an overtime rate to dispatchers and workers who take orders when they worked more that 40 hours in a workweek.

The FLSA requires that covered workers be paid at least the current federal minimum wage. It also requires that workers are paid one-and-one-half times their regular rate of pay for all hours worked over 40 in a single workweek. Employers must also maintain accurate records of employees’ wages, hours and other conditions of employment.

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 during that time decreased from 108 to 92 days.

For more information about the FLSA, call the department’s toll-free help line at 1-866-4USWAGE (1-866-487-9243); visit the Internet at www.wagehour.dol.gov; or contact the Atlanta Wage and Hour Division office located at 61 Forsyth St., S.W., Room 7M10; phone: (404) 893-4600.

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