A Houston healthcare service provider has been cited for time and attendance violations, which have resulted in payments of more than $4 million to nearly 4,600 employees, the Houston Chronicle reported. This number reflects nearly half of all employees in the system.

According to investigations conducted by the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division, Harris Health System failed to meet the standards outlined by the Fair Labor Standards Act pertaining to overtime payments and record-keeping provisions. The employees benefiting from the ruling are nurses, office workers and technicians. A representative of the Wage and Hour division indicated the hospital system failed to accurately calculate overtime wages because of a 2009 amendment to the FLSA.

The changes to the law require employers to include incentive pay when calculating overtime wages. As a result, employees were not able to receive their full compensation for all work performed beyond the 40-hour workweek. David Lopez, CEO of Harris Health Systems, explained the organization was unaware of the federal changes affecting the way companies compute overtime wages.

Regardless of ignorance of the law, all companies are beholden to follow all federal laws governing employee time and attendance.

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