American Samoa Power Authority to Pay Employees $110,865 After U.S. Department of Labor Finds Overtime Violations

HONOLULU, HI – After an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division (WHD), the American Samoa Power Authority – an American Samoa public utility – will pay $110,865 to 180 employees for violating overtime requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

WHD investigators found the American Samoa Power Authority altered employees' time records to cap shifts at eight hours each day, regardless of the number of hours they actually worked. When employees worked late and punched out after their scheduled shift ending times, the employer changed the time records to remove the extra hours. This practice resulted in unpaid time, and in overtime violations when employees worked more than 40 hours in a workweek. The inaccurate timekeeping also violated FLSA recordkeeping requirements.

"Employers must record and pay employees for all the time that they work, including overtime," said Wage and Hour Division District Director Terence Trotter in Honolulu, Hawaii. "The U.S. Department of Labor is committed to educating employers and improving compliance with federal wage laws to ensure workers receive the wages they have earned and that employers compete on a level playing field. Other employers should use this as an opportunity to evaluate their own pay practices to ensure they comply with the law."

The American Samoa Power Authority provides electricity, water, wastewater and solid waste service to more than 60,000 residents of American Samoa's islands and atolls.

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.