ASHEVILLE - An Asheville-based distribution center violated federal law by curbing wages for 152 employees according to a release from the U.S. Department of Labor.
The company, AFG Distribution, which has a warehouse at 59 Bingham Road in Asheville, banked overtime hours worked by some employees and offered them back to workers as paid leave on an hour-for-hour basis, according to the Feb. 2 release.
The department recovered a total $287,923 in back wages and liquidated damages for 152 workers after its investigation, the release stated.
By banking the overtime hours and offering them as paid leave, AFG “failed to pay the additional half-time premium for those overtime hours,” the release stated, which is a violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act.
AFG also failed to pay the additional overtime premium on monthly commissions earned by sales personnel and on quarterly bonuses paid to employees when they worked more than 40 hours in a workweek, the release noted.
AFG did not return an email and a call from the Citizen Times.
“Employers are responsible for paying all employees correctly for all the hours they work. Failure to do so deprives workers of their hard-earned wages,” Raleigh-based Wage and Hour Division District Director Richard Blaylock said. “The U.S. Department of Labor provides numerous tools to help employers comply with the law, and we encourage employers and employees alike to contact us for assistance.”
AFG was established in 1999. It is a wholesale gift...
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