The U.S. Department of Labor‘s Wage and Hour Division announced this week that Norwegian Cruise Lines has agreed to pay $526,602 in back wages to 2,059 employees. That’s the result of an investigation disclosing violations of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act‘s minimum wage, overtime and record-keeping provisions for employees of the Pride of America cruise ship in Hawaii. As an American-flagged ship, unlike most other ships, Norwegian’s Pride of America is subject to the same labor laws any other U.S. business must comply with.
“The investigation determined that Norwegian Cruise Lines paid employees straight time for mandatory weekly emergency drills, regardless of the number of hours they had worked in the week,” the Labor Department said in a news release. “Most of the employees typically worked nearly 60 hours per week and should have received pay at time and one-half their regular rates for all hours in excess of 40, including during the emergency drills conducted each Saturday. This single violation accounted for the largest share of the back wage payments owed to the employees.”
The Labor Department’s investigation of operations from July 2009 through November 2011 revealed that Norwegian failed to record and pay housekeeping staff for time spent cleaning cabins between cruises. Also, employees often began work prior to their scheduled shifts and those hours of work were neither recorded nor compensated either.
“Employees in many jobs on U.S.-flagged vessels are entitled to the federal minimum wage and overtime protections under U.S. law,” said Terence Trotter, director of the Wage and Hour Division’s Honolulu District Office. “We appreciate that this employer came into compliance once the issues were identified. We hope that this case sends a clear message to similar employers about taking steps to ensure they are in compliance with all applicable federal labor laws.”
“Norwegian Cruise Lines agreed to develop and immediately implement a compliance plan to remedy its pay practices,” said the Department of Labor.
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