The owner of a North Georgia factory has agreed to pay more than $154,000 in back wages to hundreds of employees to settle a U.S. Department of Labor investigation into allegations the company failed to pay overtime, the government said.
Primex Plastics Corp. also agreed to pay $128,589 in penalties to the government, which alleged the failure to pay overtime to 743 workers was “willful,” according to a Monday DOL press release.
On two other occasions, Primex had been found to have violated federal regulations for paying overtime, the labor department said. In this latest examination, the department examined company records for two years starting in late June 2020.
“Employers must pay qualified workers overtime for hours over 40 in a workweek,” said Steven Salazar, director of the DOL’s Wage and Hour Division for the Atlanta district. “In addition to being liable for more than $150,000 in wages and damages, the company paid significant penalties for their violations.”
But in a response to a request for comment from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the company denied wrongdoing.
At issue, Primex said, was a pay system created early in the pandemic that helped the company avoid layoffs or a request for government assistance. “The Department of Labor disagreed with our approach. This is not surprising as this was an unusual bonus structure above and beyond what most employers offer.”
Then, Primex said it complied with the government’s order to pay what was an average of about $100 per employee. The company said it is “perplexed” by the DOL imposing penalties and “continues, more than six months after this matter was resolved, to publicly shame Primex for trying to do the right thing.”
Primex Plastics’ Georgia facility is in Oakwood, about 44 miles northeast of downtown Atlanta, between Flowery Branch and Gainesville and not far from Lake Lanier.
Indiana-based Primex makes and markets a range of polymers, plastic compounds additives.
In 2002, the DOL’s Wage and Hour Division recovered $3,246 for two salaried workers who were owed overtime. In 2010 and 2011, Primex failed to include bonuses in overtime calculations for employees who had been “incorrectly categorized as exempt from overtime,” according to the division.
In that case, the company had to pay $203,960 in back wages to 991 workers, the division said.
Officials at the Wage and Hour Division say workers who believe their employer is violating federal requirements for paying overtime can call confidentially with questions. The division’s toll-free helpline is 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243).
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