Department of Labor recovers $27K in back wages, damages for Kanawha County Parks and Recreation Commission workers denied overtime pay

Employer name:  Kanawha County Parks and Recreation Commission, doing business as Big Bend Golf, doing business as Coonskin Park

Investigation sites: 

375 Henry C Hoppy Shores Drive, Charleston, West Virginia 25302

151 Riverview Drive, Tornado, West Virginia 25202

Investigation findings: Investigators with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division found the employer incorrectly determined that seven seasonal employees were exempt from overtime and paid them straight time instead of time and one half for hours worked over 40 in a work week. Additionally, the employer failed to properly compute compensatory time for 17 year-round employees. These actions violated the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Back Wages Paid:  $5,234 to nine workers at Big Bend Golf

                                       $8,405 to 15 workers at Coonskin Park

Liquidated damages paid: $13,639 totaling $27,278.

Quote: “We encourage employers to contact the Wage and Hour Division for compliance assistance to ensure full-time and seasonal workers are paid correctly,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director John DuMont in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

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). Learn more about the Wage and Hour Division, including a search tool to use if you think you may be owed back wages collected by the division.