The U.S. Department of Labor announced that Colorado Springs, Colo., School District 11 has paid a total of $652,041 to 442 employees for violations of the minimum wage and overtime provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

"This administration is committed to ensuring that workers receive all the wages they have earned," said Labor Secretary Elaine L. Chao. "I am pleased that we were able to recover more than $650,000 in back wages for these Colorado workers."

The majority of the wage violations resulted from employees working "off-the-clock" and working in two different job positions without proper overtime compensation when the combined hours exceeded 40 in a workweek. The minimum wage violations occurred when student workers were paid less than the minimum wage. The investigation was conducted by the department's Wage and Hour Division and included 39 elementary schools, nine middle schools, five high schools, seven charter schools and six alternative schools.

Once the violations were brought to the attention of school district officials, the district cooperated with the investigation and took action to come into compliance with federal law and to pay the back wages due the workers.