The U.S. District Court for the District of New Hampshire ordered a Salem, N.H., landscaping contractor, to pay a total of $283,020 — including $141,510 in back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages — to 19 workers to resolve violations of the overtime requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division investigators found Belko Landscaping failed to pay some employees one-and-a-half times the required rates of pay for hours over 40 in a workweek. Instead, the employer paid workers straight-time rates for overtime hours worked. Belko also failed to record work hours for some workers accurately.

Due to the willful nature of the violations, Belko Landscaping and its president, John Belko, also paid $14,231 in civil money penalties.

“Paying straight-time rates for overtime hours worked shortchanges workers of the hard-earned wages they need to make ends meet and violates the Fair Labor Standards Act,” said Steven McKinney, wage and hour district director in Manchester, N.H. “Unfortunately, these types of violations are common in the landscaping services industry. We encourage employers to contact the Wage and Hour Division about their responsibilities and workers to contact the agency with questions about their rights.”

The judgment also requires the company to provide current and future employees with information on the FLSA’s overtime requirements in English and Spanish.