Maui Behavioral Health Resources must pay 19 employees more than $35,000 in back wages and damages, and was fined nearly $10,000 for noncompliance with federal overtime standards.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Honolulu Wage and Hour office found that Maui Behavioral Health paid overtime based on the minimum wage of $7.25 per hour, rather than the employees’ actual rate of pay, which is required by law.

“Employers cannot undermine the integrity of … overtime pay requirements by artificially lowering workers’ rates for hours worked beyond 40 in a workweek,” said Terence Trotter, director of the Wage and Hour District Office in Honolulu, in a statement.

Aloha House Inc., which does business as Maui Behavioral Health Resources in Makawao, agreed to pay its 19 workers $17,556 in back wages, and an identical amount in damages, as well as a fine of $9,900.