A Hawaiian seafood trader was ordered to pay $117,718 in back wages and damages by the U.S. Department of Labor after denying workers overtime compensation, according to a Jan. 31 DOL news release.
The news release reported a DOL Wage and Hour Division investigation found United Fishing Agency denied 33 employees their overtime wages and failed to keep accurate payroll records. In addition to more than $58,000 in financial compensation for the workers, the company will also pay $14,805 in civil penalties for disregard of the law.
“When employers compute the additional hourly half-time rate due to employees who work more than 40 hours in a workweek, they must include incentive pay such as certain bonuses, shift pay and on-call pay in those calculations,” said Terence Trotter, the Wage and Hour Division district director in Honolulu, according to the news release. “Employers should take advantage of the many educational tools we offer in order to avoid costly violations such as those found in this case.”
DOL reported United Fishing Agency was not in compliance with the Fair Labor Standards Act, which establishes the rules for pay and wages in the private sector as well as federal, state and local governments. The Act mandates overtime should be paid every hour after an employee has worked 40 hours in a workweek, which the company was reportedly neglecting to do.
