Thursday, May 08, 2008

Wow, this industry has lots of wage-hour violations

DES MOINES, IA — The feds are finding lots of wage violations among landscape/lawn service companies, says Percella Maupins, the wage hour district director for the U.S. Labor Department. In Iowa, 56% of the companies that have been checked have been in violation of wage-hour regulations. These include failure to comply with federal minimum wage and overtime pay regulations, reported Matt Kelley of Iowa Radio on May 7. (Click on headline for full article.)

She reminds employers that they're required to pay time-and-a-half the employee’s regular rate of pay for all hours worked over 40 hours per week. And, don't just hand employees cash for the extra work. That’s a big no no.

Another thing to be aware of — children under the age of 16 are forbidden from using motorized equipment, including lawn mowers and trimmers.

If you’re not certain what is and what isn’t allowed in terms of wage-hour regulations, visit the Web site www.wsagehour.dol.gov and find out. — Ron Hall

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

www.wagehour.dol.gov