US Department of Labor recovers $259K from South Carolina manufacturer who denied 939 workers legally earned overtime

Employers:    

Jadex Inc., 1303 S. Batesville Road, Greer, SC 29650

Alltrista Plastics LLC, 1303 S. Batesville Road, Greer, SC 29650     

 ArtaZn LLC, 2500 Old Stage Road, Tusculum, TN 37745

LifeMade Products LLC, 1303 S. Batesville Road, Greer, SC 29650

Shakespeare Co. LLC, 6111 Shakespeare Road, Columbia, SC 29223                                 

Investigation findings: The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division found that Jadex Inc. and its four subsidiaries failed to include incentives, bonuses and premium pay into employees’ regular rates when calculating overtime rates for hours over 40 in a workweek.

Specifically, the employers did not include bonuses workers earned by reaching sales and safety goals per quarter, incentives awarded for working night shifts and for serving as trainers to other employees, additional hourly amounts for every hour worked during peak production seasons and bonuses for perfect attendance and personal safety performance during peak seasons. By omitting additional pay, the employers paid overtime at rates lower than required under the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Back wages recovered for workers:            $259,474 for 939 employees.                                   

Quote: “Employers must understand all applicable rules when it comes to paying workers overtime. This includes adding bonuses and incentive pay when factoring overtime pay. Anything less robs workers of their hard-earned wages,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Jamie Benefiel in Columbia, South Carolina. “The Wage and Hour Division is able to provide resources to both employers and employees to help understand their responsibilities and rights under the law.”

Background: Jadex Inc. is a manufacturing holding company that employs approximately 1,800 employees at its headquarters and subsidiaries.  

Employers can contact the Wage and Hour Division at its toll-free number, 1-866-4-US-WAGE. Learn more about the Wage and Hour Division, including numerous online resources for employers, such as a fact sheet on overtime pay requirements of the FLSA. Workers can call the Wage and Hour Division confidentially with questions – regardless of their immigration status – and the department can speak with callers in more than 200 languages. Workers and employers alike can help ensure hours worked and pay are accurate by downloading the department’s Android Timesheet App for free.