In the case of Scalia v. Shoreline Building Services, Michigan-based janitorial services Shoreline Building Services LLC and its owner, Crystal Middleton, were ordered by a U.S. District Court to pay $10,000 in back wages and liquidated damages to resolve overtime violations under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).
The court’s action followed an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division, which found that the company failed to pay employees overtime for working more than 40 hours in a workweek.
Rather than compensating overtime every week, the employer calculated overtime wages using a pay period of two weeks or longer, miscalculated overtime for employees with multiple positions at different pay rates, and failed to record or compensate for travel time between work sites.
In 2020, in addition to mandating the payment of owed back wages, the court also ordered the company to comply with the recordkeeping obligations outlined in the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). This entails accurately documenting the hours worked and ensuring the maintenance of necessary time records moving forward.
Key lessons from this case:
- Employers should ensure they properly calculate and pay overtime to employees who work more than 40 hours in a workweek, as mandated by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).
- Overtime calculations should be accurately determined within the defined workweek, rather than extending it to a longer pay period, such as bi-weekly.
- Employers must maintain accurate records of employees’ working hours, including daily and weekly hours worked, to demonstrate compliance with FLSA requirements. This includes recording time spent traveling between work sites during the workday.
If you want to know more about overtime regulations, read our guide on Michigan Overtime Laws.
