U.S. Department of Labor Recovers Over $650,000 in Back Wages
For 442 Employees of Colorado Springs School District 11

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — The U.S. Department of Labor today announced that Colorado Springs, Colo., School District 11 has paid a total of $652,041 to 442 employees for violations of the minimum wage and overtime provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

"This administration is committed to ensuring that workers receive all the wages they have earned," said Labor Secretary Elaine L. Chao. "I am pleased that we were able to recover more than $650,000 in back wages for these Colorado workers."

The majority of the wage violations resulted from employees working "off-the-clock" and working in two different job positions without proper overtime compensation when the combined hours exceeded 40 in a workweek. The minimum wage violations occurred when student workers were paid less than the minimum wage. The investigation was conducted by the department's Wage and Hour Division and included 39 elementary schools, nine middle schools, five high schools, seven charter schools and six alternative schools.

Once the violations were brought to the attention of school district officials, the district cooperated with the investigation and took action to come into compliance with federal law and to pay the back wages due the workers.

The FLSA requires that covered workers be paid at least the federal minimum wage for all hours worked and one and one-half their regular rate of pay for hours worked over 40 in a single workweek. Employers must also maintain adequate and accurate records of employees' wages, hours and other conditions of employment.

The Wage and Hour Division concluded 34,858 compliance actions and recovered more than $166 million in back wages for over 241,000 employees in fiscal year 2005. Back wage collections last year represent a 26 percent increase over back wages collected in fiscal year 2001. The number of workers receiving back wages has increased by 11 percent since fiscal year 2001.

For more information about the FLSA, call the Department of Labor's toll-free help line at 1-866-4USWAGE (1-866-487-9243) or contact the Denver District Office at (303) 264-3250. Information is also available on the Internet at www.wagehour.dol.gov.

Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.