Dallas-based Paradise Detail to pay nearly $230,000 in minimum wage and overtime back wages following US Department of Labor investigation

DALLAS — Paradise Detail Ltd. in Dallas has agreed to pay 82 current and former detail and car wash employees $229,475 in back wages following an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division that found violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act's overtime and minimum wage provisions.

"This company benefited by not paying employees all the wages they were entitled to receive," said Cynthia Watson, regional administrator for the Wage and Hour Division in the Southwest. "Car wash employees are among the most vulnerable employees in the workforce. The Labor Department remains committed to protecting the rights and wages of these workers and to leveling the playing field for employers who play by the rules. The back wages paid in this case should serve as a warning to other employers to ensure that they are paying their employees in compliance with the laws."

An investigation by the Wage and Hour Division's Dallas District Office found that the company's timekeeping system always rounded time worked in the employer's favor, resulting in paying employees for fewer hours than they had actually worked. Such shortages created minimum wage violations when employees' pay fell below the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. The employer also failed to pay employees overtime at time and one-half their regular rates of pay for hours worked beyond 40 in a workweek.

Paradise Detail, which provides car wash and detailing services to car dealerships, agreed to comply with the FLSA in the future and to pay in full the back wages due.

The FLSA requires that covered, nonexempt employees be paid at least the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour for all hours worked, plus time and one-half their regular rates, including commissions, bonuses and incentive pay, for hours worked beyond 40 per week. In general, hours worked includes all time an employee must be on duty, or on the employer's premises or at any other prescribed place of work, from the beginning of the first principal work activity to the end of the last principal activity of the workday. Additionally, the law requires that accurate records of employees' wages, hours and other conditions of employment be maintained.

For more information about the FLSA and other federal wage laws, call the Wage and Hour Division's toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243) or the division's Dallas District Office at 817-861-2150. Information is also available at http://www.dol.gov/whd/.