Overtime investigated
A New Jersey-based telemarketing firm with a call center in North Charleston has paid nearly $120,000 to hundreds of employees in four locations nationwide after a federal investigation exposed overtime violations.
A U.S. Department of Labor official said DialAmerica Inc. violated federal regulations for computing overtime at call centers on Rivers Avenue and in Omaha, Neb.; Athens, Ga.; and its home base in Mahwah, N.J.
The investigation determined that the company failed to pay sales agents time and one-half their regular rate of pay for hours worked beyond 40 in a workweek and it failed to incorporate bonuses and commissions in the regular rate of pay when computing overtime.
"DialAmerica violated the law when it did not pay its sales agents for short periods of nonproductive work time," the Labor Department's Wage and Hour Division's Northern New Jersey District Office said in a press release. "When this time was added to the employees' weekly work hours, it sometimes resulted in an overtime workweek requiring a premium rate of pay."
When confronted with the findings, DialAmerica paid 860 employees for overtime work and agreed to comply with the law in the future, according to the Labor Department.
"DialAmerica is committed to cooperating fully with regulatory agencies," company spokeswoman Camille Priselac said in a statement. "Upon being contacted..., DialAmerica took immediate action to resolve the issue and to ensure that internal processes were updated to remain in full compliance with the law."
The company did not say how many workers were affected in each site, including North Charleston.
The Fair Labor Standards Act requires covered, nonexempt employees to be paid at least the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour for all hours worked and time and one-half their regular rates of pay for hours worked beyond 40 in a week.
The law also provides that the regular rate includes an employee's hourly rate plus the value of some other types of compensation such as bonuses.
DialAmerica operates 24 call centers nationwide.
Reach Warren Wise at 937-5524 or wwise@postand courier.com.
