Tennessee Manufacturer to Pay $134,799 in Back Wages to More Than 400 Employees After U.S. Department of Labor Finds Overtime Violations

NEW TAZEWELL, TN – After an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD), Homesteader LLC – a trailer manufacturer based in New Tazewell, Tennessee – will pay $134,799 in back wages to 408 employees to resolve overtime violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

WHD investigators determined the employer, which operates as Homesteader Trailers, failed to include some employees’ production bonuses in their regular rates of pay when calculating their overtime rates. Instead, the employer based overtime only on the workers’ hourly base rates. By excluding bonus amounts from the calculation, the employer paid overtime at rates lower than those the law requires.

WHD also found the employer failed to pay workers for time they spent on short rest breaks, and for time they spent working before their official start times preparing materials needed for the day, ensuring equipment was ready and donning protective equipment. Failing to record and pay for this work time led to additional overtime violations, while failing to record work time accurately violated FLSA recordkeeping requirements.

“The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division remains committed to ensuring employers pay all employees for all the hours they work,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Nettie Lewis, in Nashville, Tennessee. “We encourage all employers to review their pay practices to confirm that they meet their obligations to their employees and to contact us for an assistance in achieving compliance.”

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.