North Carolina Manufacturer Pays $120,567 in Back Wages, Damages After U.S. Department of Labor Investigation Finds Overtime Violations

RANDLEMAN, NC– After an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD), Butler Trailer Manufacturing Co. – based in Randleman, North Carolina – has paid $120,567 in back wages and liquidated damages to 40 employees for violating the overtime requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

WHD investigators found the cable and equipment transport trailer manufacturer paid employees straight time rates for all the hours that they worked, failing to pay them overtime when they worked more than 40 hours in a workweek.

“Companies must meet their legal obligation to pay their employees the wages they have earned, including paying overtime for hours worked over 40 in a workweek,” said Wage and Hour District Director Richard Blaylock, in Raleigh, North Carolina. “We encourage employers to contact us with any questions they may have, and to use the variety of tools we offer to help them understand their obligations and to comply with the law. Costly violations like these can be avoided.”

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.

For more information about the FLSA and other laws enforced by the Wage and Hour Division, contact the 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 https://www.dol.gov/agencies/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.