U.S. Department of Labor issued the following announcement on Feb. 3.
After an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD), Accelore Group LLC – doing business as Accelore Solutions in Richardson, Texas – has paid $153,755 in back wages to 289 employees to resolve violations of the overtime requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).
WHD investigators found that the employer, which contracts with Amazon to provide package delivery, failed to pay drivers overtime when they worked more than 40 hours per workweek. Investigators found the employer paid some employees flat rates per day, or for a fixed number of hours per day, without regard to the number of hours that they actually worked. By doing so, the employer violated FLSA overtime provisions by failing to pay time-and-one-half when employees worked more than 40 hours in a workweek. When the employer did pay overtime to hourly employees, the employer failed to include incentive pay when determining their overtime rates. This exclusion led to overtime being paid at rates lower than those required by law.
“Employers have a responsibility to understand the law and to pay their workers required overtime when they work more than 40 hours in a workweek,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Jesus A. Valdez, in Dallas, Texas. “The U.S. Department of Labor is committed to enforcing the law so that employees are paid the wages they have legally earned, and so that employers compete on a level playing field. We encourage all employers to contact our office to learn more about federal wage laws.”