A South Carolina used-auto dealer was made to pay more than $64,000 in back wages and damages after an investigation by federal officials found the company guilty of violating overtime and record-keeping regulations of the Fair Labor Standards Act.
B&L Foreign Car LLC, operating as B&L Auto Sales in West Columbia, S.C., failed to pay legally required overtime rates and also misclassified some workers as independent contractors, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) reported April 4. The DOL's Wage and Hour Division (WHD) recovered $64,566 for 24 workers affected by the violations, according to the announcement.
B&L Auto Sales paid employees straight-time hourly wages for time worked over 40 hours in a pay week, depriving the workers of legally mandated wages and overtime protections, the DOL states in the report. The company also told some workers they could choose to be either an employee or an independent contractor, which is incorrect, the DOL reports.
“Misclassifying workers as independent contractors denies them the minimum wage and overtime protections they are due," WHD District Director Jamie Benefiel said in the report. "It also has consequences regarding Social Security and other benefits.”
Benefiel reminded other businesses that the results of the B&L Auto Sales investigation should be a reminder that disregarding their legal responsibilities to workers "comes at a high cost." Those costs might go beyond paying fines and penalties for violating the law, Benefiel noted.
“The employer may also find it becomes harder to retain and recruit workers they desperately need.”
