Deductions from worker wages for shortages at the cash register and delaying the payment of overtime hours for a worker until a future pay period are some of the common federal Fair Labor Standard Act (FLSA) violations found with private sector employers in American Samoa, according to the US Department of Labor official Terrance Trotter, who plans to address these problems during an FLSA training sessions later this month in the territory.

Trotter, who is the USDOL’s Wage and Hour Division Honolulu district office director, and assistant district director Min Kirk, are scheduled to arrive in Pago Pago on Sept. 14 and will be on island until Sept. 18.

Trotter and USDOL official Herbert Lee will be speakers at the Sept. 16- 17 FLSA training sessions to be held at the Gov. Rex Lee Auditorium and coordinated by ASG and USDOL.

Responding to Samoa News questions, Trotter said the primary focus of this training is to educate private sector employers on the basic compliance principles of the FLSA.

“A key component to the training is directly related to answering questions from employers and/or their representatives about the standards that govern the employer-employee relationship,” he said from Honolulu yesterday.

Regarding the public sector, “we have provided educational outreach during past visits and continue to work directly with the American Samoa government to educate government employees and supervisory personnel on the baseline labor standards.”

Asked if USDOL discovered in American Samoa problems with non compliance with FLSA, and if it was the reason for the two-day training, which will be in four sessions, Trotter said, some of the “typical problems that we’ve found in the private sector includes ‘banking’ or delaying the payment of overtime hours until a future pay-period, which is not permitted in the private sector.

Additionally, payment of scheduled hours worked rather than actual hours worked has been found. “Specifically, employees have performed work before and after their scheduled shift and through their lunch break without the work time being properly recorded and paid,” he said. Other problems include:

•     payment of straight-time rates of pay for hours worked in excess of 40 hours in a work week.

•     non-permissible deductions from worker wages for employer-required work uniforms.

•     non-permissible deductions from worker wages for shortages at the cash register.

•     payment of a lower industry wage rate when employed in higher paying industry.

Asked what he hopes local employers will gain from this training, Trotter responded that USDOL would like employers to understand whether the standards within the FLSA apply to their business(s).

“We would like employers to have a more developed understanding of the baseline compliance standards that regulate the employer-employee relationship,” he said. “We would like the private sector community to see the US Department of Labor’s Wage Hour Division as a resource to answer their questions.”

USDOL would also like employers to be able to educate themselves through on-line access to information on all of the programs administered by the Wage Hour Division (http://www.dol.gov/whd/ )

Furthermore, education outreach in the private sector can improve future compliance with labor regulations by enabling employers to re-evaluate their existing labor policies and make any necessary adjustments to align them more fully with the standards embodied in FLSA.

According to the FLSA training flyer, registration can be done at the ASG Human Resources Department or via email: dhr.asg@gmail.com. Walk-in registration on the day of the trainings are also accepted.