
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, March 3, 1990                   TAG: 9003032818
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: LESLIE TAYLOR STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

LABOR SETTLES SUIT AGAINST WORKSHOP

The U.S. Department of Labor has settled its lawsuit against Tinker Mountain Workshop Inc., which alleged that the workshop paid lower-than-required wages to its handicapped workers.

A consent judgment, entered in U.S. District Court in Roanoke this week, orders Tinker Mountain Workshop to restrain from violating certain provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act. The sheltered workshop in Troutville employs the mentally disabled and those with physical and emotional handicaps. Federal law allows such corporations to pay workers below the minimum wage provided that the amount is related to productivity, a Labor Department spokesman said.

"The alleged manner in which the workshop computed lower-than-minimum wages was improper," the spokesman said. However, "following discussions with the workshop lawyers and looking at further information, we concluded the case could be settled."

In question was the type of worker Tinker Mountain selected in the general Roanoke Valley work force as a benchmark for wages paid, the spokesman said.

"We did not dispute the percentage of productivity," the spokesman said, "but whether the workshop selected the right jobs with the right wages as a benchmark."

Under the settlement, Tinker Mountain Workshop must pay its handicapped employees wages that do conform to the Fair Labor Standards Act and keep adequate records of its employees and wages, hours and other conditions of employment.

The spokesman would not say what prompted the suit, filed last year. He did say that a great majority of cases in which the Labor Department gets involved are based on the complaints of employees or former employees.

by CNB