U.S. Department of Labor investigating San Francisco Giants

The U.S. Department of Labor has launched a second investigation into the San Francisco Giants baseball team improperly paying its employees, a department spokeswoman said Friday.

Labor department spokeswoman Deanne Amaden said the only details she could divulge about the case are that there is an active investigation into the club's paid practices.

The department's Wage and Hour Division is looking into violations, she said.

In August, the team paid $544,715 in back wages to 74 employees after a previous federal labor investigation.

In that investigation, the Department of Labor determined that the MLB club had not been properly paying workers for a three-year period.

The violations discovered by the Wage and Hour Division investigators were about minimum wage, overtime pay and record keeping, according to the department.

The employees affected included clubhouse assistants and managers at the major and minor league levels.

According to the investigation, the employees were working more hours than were recorded, and the workers were receiving less than the hourly federal minimum wage of $7.25.

Also employees were not paid overtime or had been classified as exempt from overtime pay.

Representatives from the Giants released a statement today regarding the second investigation.

"The Department of Labor has made an inquiry into our internship program. It is not entirely clear what prompted the inquiry or exactly what the Department may be concerned about," the statement said.

"The Giants have an established, highly sought-after internship program where students have the opportunity to gain real world experiences while earning school credit towards their degrees. In the past, interns were paid monthly stipends in addition to receiving school credit. Interns now are paid at or above minimum wage on top of receiving school credit," the statement said.

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