The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered more than $33,000 in back wages on behalf of a group of 14 workers after a federal probe found that a Hawaii tour operator failed to compensate crew members with their earned overtime wages.
In a May 26 news release, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division determined Ocean Journeys LLC – operating as And You Creations in Oahu – owes $33,399 for failing to pay the required overtime rates for hours topping 40 in a work week, a violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act.
“Overtime wages earned should be overtime wages paid,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Terence Trotter, according to the release. “Employers cannot manipulate or attempt to hide hours worked in an effort to avoid their obligation to pay earned overtime lawfully.”
Investigators concluded the employer paid crew members on its Waianae tour boat partial overtime hours at time-and-one-half their rate of pay and paid the remaining wages at straight time, which were then listed as “bonus” payments on company payroll records, the release reported.
In addition, authorities established Ocean Journeys failed to factor in incentive bonuses or commissions in the rates they paid as overtime, according to the release. On top of the back wages and damages, the department slapped Ocean Journeys with $2,618 in penalties for the willful nature of the violations.
With the state’s unemployment rate dropping from 5.3% to 3.2% from March 2021 to March 2022, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports employers have found it more difficult to recruit and retain workers, many of whom now have the option of picking and choosing, the release stated.
“With Honolulu’s low unemployment rate, employers who fail to meet their legal obligations to their workers are competing with employers who pay workers their rightful wages,” Trotter added, according to the release. “In addition to the costly consequences of back wages and damages, employers whose pay practices violate the law will find it difficult to fill vacancies with the people needed to do the work that makes their company successful.”