The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a consent judgment requiring a home appliance company to pay $800,000 in back wages and damages to 339 employees after an investigation found the company violated federal wage laws.
The judgment comes after the department’s Wage and Hour Division investigated Coway USA Inc. and found that the employer paid employees on a piece-rate basis and failed to pay employees for time spent attending mandatory meetings, picking up and loading supplies, and performing work before and after their shifts, in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act. Investigators also found that Coway did not include nondiscretionary incentives, bonuses, and commissions in overtime pay calculations and frequently reduced the number of hours employees recorded working on their timecards.
Entered in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California on Sept. 9, the consent judgment requires Coway to record all hours the implicated employees worked, including time they spend picking up supplies, attending mandatory training, and communicating with customers before and after appointments. Coway is also required to give employees pay statements that show their hours worked, services provided to customers, and the rate Coway paid for the hours and services.
The consent judgment orders Coway USA Inc. to pay $400,000 in unpaid overtime wages and an equal amount in damages to 339 employees working in the greater metro areas of Los Angeles, New York City, and Washington, D.C. The company also agreed to pay $10,000 in penalties for willful violations.
Coway USA Inc. is a subsidiary of Coway Co. Ltd., a multinational company specializing in home appliances. The company installs and maintains various appliances, including water and air filtration products throughout the U.S.
Employers and employees can contact the Wage and Hour Division with questions and requests for compliance assistance at its toll-free helpline, 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Employers are encouraged to use the agency’s industry-specific compliance assistance toolkits to learn about their responsibilities under the laws enforced by the division.
The agency’s PAID program offers employers an opportunity to self-report and resolve potential minimum wage and overtime violations under the Fair Labor Standards Act, as well as certain potential violations under the Family and Medical Leave Act.