The U.S. Department of Labor says it recovered $604,000 in back overtime wages for 829 hourly workers at an Indiana auto parts plant. The money came from Toa (USA) LLC in Mooresville, where investigators found a non-discretionary attendance bonus was left out of the overtime calculation. The finding was reported on Oct. 28, and it covers workers paid by the hour rather than on salary.
What the Wage and Hour Division found
The Labor Department’s Wage and Hour Division investigated and concluded that the company violated the overtime rules of the Fair Labor Standards Act, Insurance Journal reported. The violation covered applicable workweeks in which hourly employees earned an attendance bonus and also worked overtime.
Toa is an automotive supplier with manufacturing facilities in Mooresville. The report describes it as the primary body structure and suspension components supplier for Subaru of Indiana Automotive and Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America.
Is a bonus missing from an overtime rate?
Hourly workers who earn a bonus tied to attendance, production or similar targets should look at how overtime is calculated in the weeks that bonus is paid. Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, a bonus that is non-discretionary, meaning the worker is promised it in advance for meeting a goal, belongs in the regular rate on which overtime is figured. A bonus left out makes the overtime rate too low…