A Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.A.-based seafood wholesaler paid USD 117,718 (EUR 105,000) in back wages to 33 employees after a U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) investigation.
United Fishing Agency, a trader supplying seafood to markets and restaurants in Hawaii, failed to include bonuses when calculating the employees’ overtime pay, the DOL said in a press release.
“The employer should have included the bonuses in the overtime wages because they awarded the bonuses to the workers to promote their productivity. Additionally, the employer did not keep accurate payroll records, also a Fair Labor Standards Act violation,” DOL said.
The agency’s investigation found the employer owed the workers USD 58,859 (EUR 52,000) in unpaid overtime wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages.
“The reckless nature of the violations led the division to assess United Fishing Agency with USD 14,805 [EUR 13,000] in civil money penalties,” the DOL said.
“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,” Wage and Hour Division District Director Terence Trotter in Honolulu said. “Employers should take advantage of the many educational tools we offer in order to avoid costly violations such as those found in this case.”
Photo courtesy of tomas del amo/Shutterstock
