1 mistake when calculating workers’ OT meant employer owed $1.7M Company didn’t include piecework in calculation Even companies that try to do everything right can make big, expensive errors when calculating workers’ regular rate of pay. After a Dept. Of Labor (DOL) investigation, a North Dakota company serving the oil and gas industry must pay a whopping$1,174,291 in back wages to 275 current and former employees. Wyoming Casing Service Inc., correctly paid minimum wage and overtime for most hours employees worked. However, the DOL found issues with its pay for piecework. The company would pay certain employees on a piece-rate basis for additional time they spent installing hollow steel pipes used to protect groundwater during drilling operations. Workers were paid per foot of pipe installed, but the employer kept no records of how many hours each job took. And it didn’t include these earnings when calculating the regular rate for overtime purposes. Multiple jobs at once Determining how to correctly pay overtime can be tricky when workers perform two types of jobs for one employer at different rates, such as hourly work and piecework. According to the Fair Labor Standards Act, an employer can pay an employee at one-and-a-half times the regular rate of pay based on the specific job they’re performing during overtime hours, as long as the worker agrees to the arrangement in advance and all legal requirements are met. More info: bit.ly/otpiecework570