The United States Department of Labor has filed a lawsuit on behalf of workers of a Los Angeles appliance company that were allegedly shortchanged on overtime wages.

More than 180 workers at Coway USA, an L.A.-based company that sells, leases and services household appliances, were found to have not been paid for all hours worked, according to a Labor Department investigation.

The suit, filed in the U.S. District Court for California’s Central District, accuses Coway of violating the Fair Labor Standards Act.

The Labor Department on Tuesday released information about the investigation, which was conducted by its Wage and Hour Division.

Investigators alleged that Coway “knowingly shortchanged employees who serviced and maintained company products by falsifying employment records to hide all hours worked by employees.”

Coway is also accused of not accounting or paying for time spent by employees during customer calls, loading and unloading vehicles with products for delivery, trips to the warehouse to pick up inventory, or attending trainings that were designated as mandatory.

The company also automatically deducted 30 minutes per day for lunch even though employees often worked through their meal breaks to stay on schedule and keep up with demand, investigators said.

The violations didn’t simply stop at falsifying records, the Labor Department said. Coway alleged utilized a “flawed methodology” when it computer overtime pay that reduced the amount it had to pay to employees, thus “depriving employees of their overtime wages.”

Investigators estimate that Coway owes hundreds of thousands of dollars in unpaid overtime wages to more than 180 “piece-rate” employees.

Piece-rate pay is based on the number of units an employee services, officials said, but employers are still required to pay overtime using the correct methodology and accounting for any hours worked.

The lawsuit is not only seeking the unpaid wages of the affected employees, but also an equal amount in “liquidated damages,” which the Labor Department says are “intended to compensate workers for damages they may have incurred as the result of not having been paid timely for all the wages they legally earned.”

“Coway knowingly violated federal law by depriving workers of their hard-earned overtime pay and falsifying the hours they worked,” said Marc Pilotin, Labor Department regional solicitor in San Francisco. “Coway’s violations have to be remedied and the company must be brought into compliance to ensure workers are fully and accurately compensated.”

Coway USA Inc. is a subsidiary of Coway Co. Ltd., which manufactures water and air purifiers, bidets, water softeners and mattresses. The parent company is headquartered in South Korea and has several big name brand ambassadors, including Korean pop band BTS.

The Labor Department’s Wage and Hour Division urges anyone who believes they may be owed back wages to use its online search tool or call the agency’s toll-free helpline at 866-487-9243. Complaints can be filed online.

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