WEST COVINA, CA – Fontana pallet manufacturing company Forest Green Products Inc. and the U.S. Department of Labor have reached an agreement to resolve overtime and recordkeeping violations of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).
The agreement requires Forest Green Products to pay $289,215 in back wages and liquidated damages to 60 employees.
Investigators with the Department’s Wage and Hour Division found that Forest Green Products Inc. failed to pay required overtime rates when its employees worked more than 40 hours per week.
In its investigation, the Division determined that Forest Green paid employees only up to 40 hours per week on the payroll, with any additional hours being paid at straight time, in cash, off the books.
The employer also failed to maintain an accurate record of the number of hours employees worked, as required by federal law.
“Failing to pay hard-earned overtime hurts employees, and places other employers at a competitive disadvantage,” said Wage and Hour District Director Danny Pasquil, in West Covina. “Agreements like these demonstrate our determination to level the playing field for law-abiding employers.”
The FLSA requires that employees receive one-and-one-half times their regular rates of pay when they work more than 40 hours in a work week and that employers maintain adequate and accurate records of employees’ wages and work hours.
