Avera McKennan Hospital and University Health Center in Sioux Falls, S.D., has been ordered by the U.S. Department of Labor to pay $70,157 in back wages to 487 current and former employees who were not properly compensated for breaks, according to an Argus Leader report.
Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, employees who take less than 30 minutes for their meal breaks must still be compensated for the entire half-hour.
A two-year investigation conducted by the Dept. of Labor found Avera deducted time from hourly employees' paychecks for breaks that did not take the entire 30 minutes. If the deducted time had been added to the employees' hourly total, they would have been owed overtime, the agency found.
Avera McKennan must make its payments by June 1, and it also agreed to other FLSA compliance measures such as additional training on the act for employees and managers.
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Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, employees who take less than 30 minutes for their meal breaks must still be compensated for the entire half-hour.
A two-year investigation conducted by the Dept. of Labor found Avera deducted time from hourly employees' paychecks for breaks that did not take the entire 30 minutes. If the deducted time had been added to the employees' hourly total, they would have been owed overtime, the agency found.
Avera McKennan must make its payments by June 1, and it also agreed to other FLSA compliance measures such as additional training on the act for employees and managers.
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