Lake Charles Stevedores Inc. has agreed to pay $228,410 in back wages to 278
current and former employees after an investigation by the Wage and Hour Division
of the U.S. Department of Labor found that the workers were underpaid for working
overtime.
The investigation determined that Lake Charles Stevedores Inc., based in Lake
Charles, La., failed to properly pay overtime to its stevedores, clerks and
warehouse employees from Dec. 29, 2000, to Jan. 17, 2003, required by the Fair
Labor Standards Act (FLSA), according to investigators. The company also failed
to combine hours worked on multiple shifts to determine its overtime obligations
and failed to include in its regular rate computations other payments such as
on-call hours.
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Get Your Report Now!The company was paying "straight time" for overtime hours. Under
the FLSA, covered employees should receive time and one-half their regular rate
of pay when they work more than 40 hours in a workweek. Lake Charles Stevedores
Inc. has agreed to future compliance, according to the department.