U.S. Dept of Labor Fines Jefferson Facility for Overtime Violations

A Connecticut company has been fined by the U.S. Department of Labor for withholding wages from its employees at their Jefferson, Georgia facility.

After an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) fined Hubbell Inc., a lighting manufacturer, was ordered to pay $138,753 in back wages and liquidated damages to 829 employees.

The U.S. Department of Labor said the Company violated the overtime and recordkeeping provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act at its distribution facility in Jefferson.

Investigators found that Hubbell Inc. failed to include employees’ shift differentials when computing their overtime pay, instead basing their time-and-a half calculation only on the workers’ hourly base rates.

Excluding those amounts from the calculation resulted in the employer paying overtime at rates lower than those required by law.

The employer also failed to maintain complete and accurate records of the hours employees worked.

“The U.S. Department of Labor is committed to ensuring that employees receive the wages they have earned for all the hours they have worked,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Eric Williams in Atlanta, Georgia. “We are also determined to ensure that employers who fail to comply with the law do not gain an unfair competitive advantage over those who do. We offer a wide variety of tools to help employers understand their responsibilities, and encourage them to reach out to us for guidance to avoid violations.”