Auburn, Alabama, Pep Boys Pays Employee Back Wages After Violating Family and Medical Leave Act

AUBURN, AL – After an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD), a Pep Boys automotive service location in Auburn, Alabama, has paid an employee $10,094 in back wages after WHD found the employer violated the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).

WHD investigators determined that Pep Boys denied the worker the opportunity to return to work following FMLA-protected leave after receiving clearance from a physician. The back wages cover the period of time the employee would have worked if reinstated. Pep Boys also failed to keep FMLA records and to provide the employee with a FMLA designation notice, as required by law.

“The Family and Medical Leave Act provides employees with workplace flexibility when they need it the most by protecting them when they have a serious health condition requiring care for themselves or family members,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Kenneth Stripling, in Birmingham, Alabama. “The U.S. Department of Labor is committed to ensuring that employees’ rights under the FMLA are protected. We encourage employers to review the numerous tools and resources we provide to help them understand their rights and obligations under this law.”

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 FMLA and other laws enforced by the Wage and Hour Division, contact the Division’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Information is also available at 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.