April 21, 2021—The US Department of Labor announced it has recovered $129,000 in back wages for 154 workers of Ziegler Tire and Supply Company following a federal investigation, according to a press release.
The department’s Wage and Hour Division found Ziegler Tire called mechanics and tire technicians in the evening after normal working hours to complete auto service repairs. The employer failed to add these “call-out” hours to the total hours these employees worked, and failed to include commissions and call-out bonuses in workers’ regular rates of pay when determining overtime rates. These failures led to systemic overtime violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act. Ziegler’s failure to record all the hours employees worked resulted in recordkeeping violations.
“Employers who fail to pay their workers all their hard-earned wages shortchange these people and their families and gain an unfair advantage over competitors who abide by the law,” Wage and Hour District Director John DuMont said in a statement. “The Wage and Hour Division provides many tools and resources to help employers avoid violations and fully comply with the law.”
The investigation uncovered 16 locations in Kentucky, Ohio and Pennsylvania failed to comply.
