An investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division (WHD) has resulted in the Opelika, Alabama, Police Department paying $56,681 in back wages to seven officers for violations of overtime and recordkeeping requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

The police department paid the back wages after WHD investigators found the employer failed to record and to pay officers for all the hours they worked while performing K-9 care outside of their regularly scheduled shift hours. This practice led to overtime violations when that unpaid work resulted in unpaid overtime. The employer failed to record this time, resulting in a recordkeeping violation under the FLSA.

"Local governments must ensure their pay practices pay employees in compliance with the Fair Labor Standards Act," said Wage and Hour Division District Director Kenneth Stripling, in Birmingham. "The Department of Labor encourages employers to contact the Wage and Hour Division with any questions they may have, and to use the wide variety of tools we offer to help them understand their obligations and to comply with the law."