The U.S. Department of Labor has ordered Timmonsville, S.C.-based Ard Trucking to pay more than $51,000 in back wages.
According to a DOL news release, investigators with the department’s Wage and Hour Division found that Ard Trucking paid 11 employees straight-time rates for all hours worked, including overtime hours. Consequently, the trucking company failed to pay the required time-and-a-half overtime premium for hours over 40 in a workweek.
That’s a violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act as the motor carrier overtime exemption in the FLSA doesn’t apply to dispatchers and other office personnel.
Ard Trucking also required one employee to pay for uniforms when they resigned from the company, causing the worker’s average hourly pay rate to drop below the federal minimum wage. In addition, the employer failed to maintain a record of work hours for some employees, an FLSA recordkeeping violation.
In total, Ard Trucking owes $25,693 in back overtime wages and $25,693 in liquidated damages.
“Not paying workers their full and legally earned wages is unethical and illegal. Employers have a legal obligation to pay employees for all hours they worked,” Wage and Hour Division District Director Jamie Benefiel in Columbia, S.C., said in a statement. “Employers must follow these standards and make sure their employees take home every cent they’ve earned. An employer’s failure to comply with the law can have costly consequences.”
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