Wage and Hour Division (WHD)

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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- Recently completed investigations by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division Hurricane Katrina Task Force have resulted in agreements with employers to pay $338,229 in back wages to 376 employees who worked in the Mississippi Gulf Coast region following the 2005 hurricane.

“As reconstruction activities continue, the task force is continuing its efforts to ensure that employees who were involved in the activities following Hurricane Katrina are paid appropriately under the law,” said Oliver Peebles III, acting director of the Wage and Hour Division’s district office in Birmingham. “Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, employees must receive no less that the minimum wage for all hours that they work and overtime for hours worked over 40 in a week. We are making sure that employers follow the law.”

Companies that have agreed to pay back wages for their failure to pay overtime include: H.P. Drywall, $64,058 to 66 employees; AQ Stucco Co., $38,486 to 32 employees; Centellas Stucco, $19,635 to 33 employees; Artisan Construction Inc., $4,496 to nine employees; Fast Track, $98,022 to 68 employees; MCA Contractors, $29,181 to 33 employees; Palmetto Drywall, $8,262 to 15 employees; Richardson Drywall, $3,780 to 12 employees; David Gutierrez Painting, $1,200 to five employees; and LEN Drywall, $71,109 to 103 employees.

Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, covered, nonexempt employees must be paid time and one-half their regular rates of pay for all hours worked over 40 in a workweek.

These investigations were among the many compliance actions conducted by the Wage and Hour Division in the Gulf Coast region to ensure that workers involved in hurricane-related activities are properly compensated.

For more information call the Department of Labor’s toll-free helpline at (866) 4US-WAGE (487-9243), visit the Internet at www.wagehour.dol.gov or contact the Wage and Hour Division’s Birmingham District Office at 955 22nd St. N., Suite 656; telephone (205) 731-1305.

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