Plastic Manufacturer Fails to Pay Workers Minimum Wage and Overtime

ZEBULON, NC – The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a temporary restraining order against a plastics manufacturer after an investigation found the company failed to pay minimum wage and overtime to its employees.

The Department’s complaint seeks to keep Aimet Technologies LLC from shipping any products manufactured between June 19 and July 2, 2017. The Division believes the company’s plastic components – used in commercial and residential appliances – were produced by employees who were paid less than the federal minimum wage during that time period.

Investigators from the Wage and Hour Division found the employer either failed to pay any wages at all to salaried employees, or paid hourly employees at a rate less than 30 percent of their regular rates of pay, resulting in some employees earning less than $7.25 per hour. The employer also failed to pay affected employees overtime at one-and-one-half times their regular rates of pay when they worked more than 40 hours in a week. These infractions violated the overtime and minimum wage provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

“Federal wage law prohibits the interstate shipment of any goods produced in violation of its provisions,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Richard Blaylock. “Our goal is to ensure that workers are paid properly, and that law-abiding employers do not find themselves at an economic disadvantage to those who do not follow the law.”

In all, the Wage and Hour Division determined that 77 employees were due $43,554 in minimum wage and overtime back wages. The complaint was filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina.

For more information about the FLSA and other laws enforced by the Wage and Hour Division, contact the Division’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Information is also available at http://www.dol.gov/whd, including a search tool to use if you think you may be owed back wages collected by WHD.