Alabama sales workers of CenturyLink could receive a piece of a $144,000 pie in back wages recovered by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division.

A labor investigation determined that, over a 10-month period, commissions for inside salespeople were not included when calculating the premium pay they earned when they worked more than a 40-hour week. The original investigation focused on employees at United Telephone of Florida, a subsidiary of CenturyLink, but was expanded to include CenturyLink workers nationwide.

“Failing to include commission earnings when computing overtime pay for covered employees deprives workers of all the wages they are entitled to under the Fair Labor Standards Act,” said Michael Young, the Wage and Hour Division’s district director in Jacksonville. “The department will continue to enforce the law to ensure workers receive the wages they have worked hard for and deserve.”

Workers receiving back pay are located in 33 states, including Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas.

Read more: Alabama workers win piece of CenturyLink back wages penalty - Birmingham Business Journal