Department Of Labor recovers more than $934,000 in overtime back wages for 479 employees of United Healthcare in Hartford, Conn. [02/07/2011]

The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered a total of $934,551 in overtime back wages for 479 employees of United Healthcare and $104,280 in civil money penalties after an investigation by the department's Wage and Hour Division determined that the employees had been incorrectly classified as exempt from the Fair Labor Standards Act and consequently denied compensation for all hours worked. (Click here for complete article from the DOL.)

Paul Altavena and Michael Young of ConnectPay state that misclassification of workers as exempt from minimum wage and overtime because of a title or just paying them on a salary basis can be costly as it was for United Healthcare

Michael Young said that job titles alone do not determine exempt status. In order for an exemption to apply, an employee’s specific job duties and salary must meet all the requirements of the Department’s regulations.

The DOL provides more specific information about the FairPay Initiative which specifically defines and addresses what qualifies for an exemption form minimum wage and overtime pay. (Click here for the DOL FairPay Overtime Initiate web site.)

Paul Altavena said that employers can view and even download a free video Seminar by the DOL on this subject at http://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/fairpay/seminar.htm

ConnectPay encourages employers to review all employees currently being paid on a salary basis with the standards of the FairPay Initive to insure that employees are classified correctly and those salaried employees that do not meet the exemption status as defined by the FairPay Initiative are paid minimum wage and overtime.