Diversified Interiors of Amarillo, Ltd., a framing and drywall construction firm, has paid $76,417 to 63 workers who were denied overtime pay for hours worked beyond their normal shifts, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) recently reported.

Investigators found that Diversified paid the required time-and-a-half premium for scheduled hours worked beyond 40 hours per week, but paid straight time for unscheduled overtime, including time spent traveling between worksites, in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The company also reportedly failed to maintain required records.

“Employers are legally obligated to properly compensate employees for all hours worked,” said Cynthia Watson, WHD regional administrator. “This includes travel between the employer’s facility and the jobsites, and any other hours worked, whether scheduled or not. Other employers should use this case as an opportunity to ensure that their pay practices are in compliance and that their employees are being properly paid. The Department of Labor will not hesitate to investigate and to seek remedies in cases where they are not.”

WHD noted that under the FLSA, hours worked includes all time an employee must be on duty, or on the employer’s premises, or at any other prescribed place of work, “from the beginning of the first principal work activity to the end of the last principal activity of the workday.”