A Hilton subsidiary has agreed to pay more than $715,000 in back wages to 2,645 workers in four states. The agreement comes in the wake of a Labor Department investigation into the handling of payment for work done before the start of a shift.
Nonpayment of pre-shift work at heart of DOL investigation
Hilton “profited by not paying its customer care workers for hours spent conducting pre-shift work,” said Cynthia Watson, regional administrator for the federal Labor Department’s the Wage and Hour Division in the Southwest in an Oct. 26 release.
Photo: Dan Macy
An investigation by Labor’s Wage and Hour Division’s Dallas District Office found that the company failed to pay employees for work performed prior to clocking in at the start of their scheduled shifts, such as booting up a computer, opening programs required to assist customers and reading pertinent emails. Consequently, the employees did not receive at least the minimum wage for this time, as required by the FLSA. Additionally, because the time was not included in employees’ total hours worked, which is used to calculate overtime wages, they did not receive the correct overtime rate of pay. Finally, the employer failed to maintain the required records.
A total of $456,343 is due to 1,443 reservation and customer care workers at the Carrollton location; $213,314 is due to 1,012 employees in Tampa, Fla.; $30,370 is due to 130 workers in Hazelton, Pa.; and $15,480 is due to 60 workers in Streator, Ill.
Hilton Reservations Worldwide, which provides telephone reservation services for the Hilton Worldwide chain of hotels and resorts, has agreed to fully comply with the FLSA in the future. Payment of the back wages is ongoing.