In a release by the U.S. Department of Labor, it was announced that penalties were imposed on two processors in Mississippi for deviations from legal payment of wages and overtime. Contravention of the Fair Labor Standards Act resulted in fines and compensation of workers for deficiencies.
Irregular practices revealed in audits and investigations included:
- Failure to pay overtime beyond 40 hours in a work week
- Illegal deductions, reducing average hourly pay
- Failure to include bonuses in the pay rate when calculating overtime
- Deficiencies in pay records
Audrey Hall, Director of the Wage and Hour Division of the department of Labor in Jackson, MS., stated, “Families across the country depend on food industry workers to put meals on their tables and these workers deserved to be paid all of their rightful wages.”
It is evident that the Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division, will be more aggressive in ensuring compliance with the Fair Labor Standards Act. This will require plant management to comply with wage rates, calculate overtime correctly and to maintain accurate records.
In the specific cases cited, the Department of Labor identified problems affecting 313 workers. It is noted that major integrators operating primary processing plants employing many hundreds of workers have well-structured HR Departments with computerized records suitable for accurate payments that can be verified by audit.