At 18 locations across Indiana, a Goshen-based credit union failed to pay 34 mortgage loan advisors and mortgage loan originators the full overtime wages they were due.
An investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division found that Interra Credit Union failed to include certain bonuses and commissions into the calculations of overtime pay for the affected employees. In doing so, Interra violated the overtime requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act.
The mortgage loan advisors and mortgage loan originators received a salary plus commissions. However, they did not meet the minimum salary levels and duty requirements to be excluded from the employer’s overtime pay obligation as executive, administrative, or professionally exempt employees under the FLSA. Additionally, many of the mortgage loan advisors and mortgage loan administrators did not earn enough in commissions over a representative period to be exempt from the overtime provisions of the FLSA.
The employer paid $18,906 in overtime back wages and an equal amount of liquidated damages for the affected employees. The employer also agreed to change payroll practices and comply with overtime regulations in the future.
“Our investigation of Interra Credit Union found systemic violations of overtime regulations. Failure to include bonuses and commissions in the calculation of overtime pay and misapplication of the regulations that allow certain salaried employees to be excluded from overtime pay requirements are among the most common violations we find,” said Wage and Hour District Director Patricia Lewis in Indianapolis. “Employers must ensure they understand the law and apply it correctly to avoid shortchanging employees of their hard earned wages.”
The FLSA requires that most employees in the U.S. be paid at least the federal minimum wage for all hours worked and overtime pay at not less than time and one-half the regular rate of pay for all hours worked over 40 hours in a workweek.
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