Center Partners agrees to pay back wages for overtime

DENVER – Center Partners Inc. has agreed to pay nearly $230,000 in back wages to 1,390 call center agents who were shorted on overtime pay.

About 248 employees who work for the company in Post Falls and Coeur d’Alene are included in the agreement. Center Partners also has call centers in Fort Collins, Colo., and Idaho Falls.

The agreement followed an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division, which found that the company violated overtime laws by failing to pay employees for setup work before the official start of their shift. In addition, Center Partners failed to include commissions and bonuses in the rate of pay when calculating overtime earnings. The violations occurred in 2005.

“This investigation reflects the Labor Department’s commitment to ensure that workers receive the full wages they have earned,” said Alex Salaiz, district director for the Wage and Hour Division in Denver.

Center Partners was not fined for the violations.

“We just went ahead and made the employees whole,” Salaiz said.