Hankook Tire & Technology violated U.S. labor laws by not paying overtime pay to workers, the Energy Kyungje newspaper reported on May 16.
According to the media, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has ordered Hankook Tire to pay overtime while conducting an ex officio investigation.
The DOL concluded that Hankook Tire violated U.S. federal labor laws by failing to properly pay overtime pay to workers.
As a result, DOL ordered Hankook Tire to pay $650,000 to 136 workers who were not paid benefits.
According to the results of the DOL investigation, Hankook Tire's Tennessee plant has violated the Federal Labor Standards Act on overwork and record keeping clause.
The U.S. act requires employers to pay regular pay and overtime pay to workers if they work more than 40 hours a week.
The investigation, however, found that Hankook Tire's Tennessee plant did not pay some employees any allowances until they worked more than 45 hours.
Hankook Tire also violated the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) records management regulations by not posting guidance on the FLSA to its business sites.
"We have confirmed that we have not paid any overtime for some of our employees," said a company official at Hankook Tire's Tennessee plant. "We will work with DOL to pay the benefits based on the law."
"The employees are the most valuable assets of the company, and (the company) feels very sorry for this error," he added.