Tacoma Property Management Company to Pay $255,793 in Back Wages To Employees in U.S. Department of Labor Agreement

SEATTLE, WA – The U.S. Department of Labor has reached an agreement with a Tacoma property management company that requires the employer to pay 71 employees $255,793 in back wages to resolve Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) violations.

Investigators with the Department’s Wage and Hour Division established that Dobler Management Company, Inc. failed to pay the minimum wage for all hours worked by its on-site property managers, maintenance technicians, and other on-site staff working at client properties. The Department’s investigation further revealed that the workers were not paid the overtime premium of one-and-one half times the regular rate for all hours worked beyond 40 in the workweek. Instead, many employees were paid a salary that was less than the minimum and overtime wage due under federal law. The company also failed to keep records of hours worked by their on-site managers, which averaged between 42 hours and 46 hours per week. 

“Thanks to this settlement, dozens of workers will receive their rightfully earned wages,” said Wage and Hour Division Director Jeanette Aranda, in Seattle. “No employer should gain a competitive advantage by failing to pay its workers in compliance with the law. We urge all employers to make use of the tools our agency offers to explain their obligations and help them avoid violations.”

In addition to paying the back wages, Dobler agreed to make numerous changes to its operations to ensure future compliance, including creating a new position for a human resources employee, and establishing work assignments with specific “on-duty and off-duty” time to more accurately track hours worked.  

Dobler manages approximately 65 properties throughout the Puget Sound area. 

Employees and employers with questions about the FLSA or any of the federal wage laws administered by the Division should call the agency’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). All calls are confidential. More information is available online at http://www.dol.gov/whd/.