Hotel chain in Texas ordered to pay back wages
An Odessa, Texas-based hotel chain agreed to pay back compensation to employees in several locations in the state following an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor. The inquiry found several violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act, including some pertaining to overtime, minimum wage and record-keeping, according to a news release from the organization.
The payments totaled $78,876 in overtime back wages to 200 dishwashers, bartenders, wait staff, bellmen, housekeeping and maintenance workers.
The investigation found that housekeeping staff were paid a flat rate based on the number of rooms cleaned and consistently worked more than 40 hours a week without overtime pay.
For servers, the hotel employers failed to correctly calculate overtime pay. Instead of basing the calculation on the full minimum wage, managers used their direct cash wages to calculate time and one-half overtime rates. The employers also failed to maintain accurate wage and hour records.
In the DOL release, Cynthia Watson, regional administrator for the Wage and Hour Division in the Southwest said, the hotel industry employs large numbers of vulnerable workers working for low wages. However, in an interview with Odessa American, Ed Lasater, the president of the hotels' parent company said the DOL was overplaying an accounting mistake that was fixed long ago.
To avoid an investigation from the DOL, employers should maintain compliance with FLSA by using attendance software to log employee time.
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