Labor Department: Minnesota company violated overtime pay laws

St. Paul, MNThe U.S. Department of Labor has filed a lawsuit against a company's president who reportedly did not pay approximately 250 employees the federal minimum wage or overtime pay.

span itemprop="image" itemscope itemtype="https://schema.org/ImageObject" style="display:block">Franklin Drywall and its president Philip Franklin are accused of "repeatedly and willfully violated the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)" by not paying earned wages to the company's workers who worked more than 40 hours in a week, MyFoxtwincities.com reports.

FLSA states that workers are required to receive the federal minimum wage for hours worked, and that they are to receive time and one-half their regular wage if they work more than 40 hours in a week.

Jose Medina, director of the Wage and Hour Division's district office in Minneapolis, said that when employees, "especially vulnerable workers such as we found in this case," are not given their overtime pay, employers should expect the involvement of the government.

"The department will not hesitate to take legal action to recover those back wages if necessary," Medina said.

According to the suit, Franklin Drywall violated overtime laws since March 2005. The current federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour.