Wage and Hour Division (WHD)

Printer-Friendly Version

Press Releases

TAMPA, Fla. -- Certified Foundations Inc. of Lakeland, Fla., has paid $74,565 in back wages to 24 people employed by its subsidiary companies – Invision Construction and The Dumpster Co. LLC – following an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division.

“The Department of Labor ensures that employers follow federal law, which requires companies to pay nonexempt employees for all hours worked and make overtime payments for work beyond 40 hours in a week,” said James Schmidt, director of the Wage and Hour Division’s Tampa District Office.

Investigators determined that nonexempt drivers employed by The Dumpster Co. to drop off and retrieve dumpsters from construction sites were paid on a salary basis regardless of hours worked, resulting in employees not receiving overtime payments when their workweeks exceeded 40 hours. Drivers employed by Invision Construction were paid for travel time to jobsites but not for return trips back to the shop, and did not receive overtime pay when those hours resulted in workweeks of greater than 40 hours. In addition, one office employee was misclassified as exempt from provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and did not receive overtime payments when hours worked exceeded 40 in a week.

After the Wage and Hour Division explained the requirements of the law, the company agreed to pay all back wages owed the employees and to comply with the federal wage and hour law in the future.

The FLSA requires that covered employees be paid at least the federal minimum wage of $5.85 for all hours worked, plus time and one-half their regular rates of pay, including commissions, bonuses and incentive pay, for hours worked over 40 per week. The FLSA provides an exemption from both minimum wage and overtime pay for bona fide executive, administrative, professional and outside sales employees. To qualify for exemption, employees generally must meet certain job duty and salary tests. Employers must also maintain accurate time and payroll records.

The Wage and Hour Division concluded 31,987 compliance actions and recovered more than $171 million in back wages for more than 246,000 employees in fiscal year 2006. Back-wage collections in fiscal year 2006 represent a 30 percent increase over back wages collected in fiscal 2001. The number of workers receiving back wages has increased by 14 percent since fiscal 2001.

For more information, call the department’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243); visit the Internet at www.wagehour.dol.gov; or contact the Tampa District Office of the Wage and Hour Division, 4905 West Laurel St., Room 300; phone 813-288-1242.

###

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.