All my readers with young daughters knows the price of a Disney princess costume. Well now Disney does too. Or at least the cost of making deductions for maintaining them. The Department of Labor (DOL) recently announced that two subsidiaries of Walt Disney Company have agreed to pay $3.8 million in back wages to 16,339 employees to ensure compliance with the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Among the violations found by the wage and hour division was that the Disney resorts in Florida deducted a uniform or a “costume” expense that caused some employees hourly rates to fall below the federal minimum wage. However under the wage and hour rules, the FLSA does not allow deductions for uniforms if it reduces the employees wage below $7.25 per hour. In addition the cost may not cut into overtime compensation. The proper handling of uniforms is often a source of confusion for payroll departments and company employees. The DOL’s Fact sheet #16 provides the information on the proper deductions for uniforms and other facilities.
