U.S. Department of Labor Investigation Results in Home Hardware Supplier in Guam Paying $48,046 to 39 Employees for Overtime Violations

HAGATNA, GU – After an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD), WMJ Inc. – doing business as Guam Home Center in Dededo, Guam – will pay $48,046 to 39 employees for violating the overtime requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

WHD investigators determined that the home hardware supplier violated overtime requirements when it failed to record and pay hourly employees accurately for all of the hours that they worked. The employer failed to count time that employees performed work before and after their scheduled shifts stocking merchandise, assisting customers, and balancing their daily sales records as work time. Failure to count these hours resulted in overtime violations whenever employees’ actual work time exceeded 40 hours per week. The employer also failed to pay required overtime to store managers who were not paid on a salary basis.

“Employers are responsible for ensuring employees receive all the wages they have legally earned, including wages for time worked before and after a scheduled shift,” said Wage and Hour District Director Terence Trotter, in Honolulu, Hawaii. “Employers who rely on a posted schedule must ensure that any additional work time is recorded and paid. We encourage all employers to make use of the many tools we offer online, and to call us directly with any questions they may have about their responsibilities.”

The Department offers numerous resources to ensure employers have the tools they need to understand their responsibilities and to comply with federal law, such as online videos, confidential calls, or in-person visits to local WHD offices. In addition, WHD provides employers with compliance assistance resources related to overtime to help them comply with the FLSA.

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). Employers who discover overtime or minimum wage violations may self-report and resolve those violations without litigation through the PAID program.  Information is also available at www.dol.gov/whd including a search tool to use if you think you may be owed back wages collected by WHD.

WHD’s mission is to promote and achieve compliance with labor standards to protect and enhance the welfare of the nation's workforce. WHD enforces federal minimum wage, overtime pay, recordkeeping, and child labor requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act. WHD also enforces the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act, the Employee Polygraph Protection Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act, wage garnishment provisions of the Consumer Credit Protection Act, and a number of employment standards and worker protections as provided in several immigration related statutes. Additionally, WHD administers and enforces the prevailing wage requirements of the Davis-Bacon Act and the Service Contract Act, and other statutes applicable to federal contracts for construction and for the provision of goods and services.

The mission of the Department of Labor is to foster, promote, and develop the welfare of the wage earners, job seekers, and retirees of the United States; improve working conditions; advance opportunities for profitable employment; and assure work-related benefits and rights.