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 Printer-Friendly Version
ESA-WHD New Release: [02/20/1997]
Contact Name: John M. Chavez
Phone Number: (617) 565-2075
Release Number: BOS 97-031
MAINE EMPLOYER ORDERED TO PAY EMPLOYEES OVER $10,000 IN BACK WAGES FOR FEDERAL WAGE & HOUR LAW VIOLATIONS INCLUDING UNLAWFUL DISCHARGES
BOSTON, MA — The Boughton Hotel Corporation, doing business as The Colony Hotel, located on Ocean Avenue, of Kennebunkport, Maine, has been ordered to pay 17 employees over $10,000 in back wages as the result of a court order issued by the U.S. District Court for the District of Maine.
The order, agreed to by the parties and signed by U.S. District Judge D. Brock Hornby, resolves a suit filed against the defendants by the U.S. Department of Labor alleging violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), including the unlawful discharge of three employees, failure to pay proper overtime wages and failure to maintain adequate and accurate payroll records.
According to George Rioux, Manchester district director for the Labor Department’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD), the defendant has been ordered to pay seventeen employees who worked for the hotel between August 25, 1993 and October 31, 1995, a total of $10,876.01 in back wages.
Rioux noted that the order also prohibits the defendant from future violations of the overtime and recordkeeping provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act, and discharging or discriminating against any employee for exercising their rights under the law.
Rioux stressed that the Wage and Hour Division has a strategy of tough, responsible, and consistent enforcement, which includes litigation when necessary.
Passed in 1938, the FLSA--also known as the federal wage and hour law--today covers more than 110 million nationwide, explained Rioux. The law, enforced by the Labor Department’s Wage and Hour Division, sets the federal minimum wage at $4.75 per hour and generally requires overtime for hours worked over 40 in any workweek. It also prohibits child labor abuse and requires employers to keep adequate time and payroll records.
The department’s legal action against the company followed an investigation by the Wage and Hour Division district office headquartered in Manchester, New Hampshire, which covers the northern New England states. The civil action file number for this case is 96-178-P-H.
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