Oak Street Mortgage,
based in
will pay $2.45 million to almost 200 loan officers nationwide to settle allegations
that the firm violated the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) by not
paying overtime. The employees charged that even though they were classified as
nonexempt, the mortgage firm’s policy was to require them to work more than 40
hours a week while pressuring workers to fill in a maximum of 40 hours per week
on their time sheets, even if they had worked more hours. The company has
denied the allegations.
The HR Management & Compliance Report: How To Comply with California Wage & Hour Law, explains everything you need to know to stay in compliance with the state’s complex and ever-changing rules, laws, and regulations in this area. Coverage on bonuses, meal and rest breaks, overtime, alternative workweeks, final paychecks, and more.
In other mortgage firm
news, a federal court has ruled that Ace Mortgage Funding, Inc., based in
the FLSA by improperly paying loan officers under a commission plan. Under the FLSA,
employees who work in retail or service establishments are exempt from overtime
provisions provided their regular pay rate is more than 11/2 times the minimum wage
and more than half of the monthly compensation represents commissions on goods
or services. Here, however, the court ruled that Ace was in the financial
industry and thus didn’t qualify for the retail or service commission
exemption.1
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1 Saunders v. Ace
Mortgage Funding, Inc., U.S.D.C. (D. Minn.) No. 05-1437, 2007