LABOR

Meatpacker Ordered to Pay Back Wages: IBP Inc., the nation’s largest meatpacking company, may be forced to pay more than $7 million in back wages to its employees, the Labor Department said. According to a court order issued by a Kansas City federal judge, IBP violated the Fair Labor Standards Act by refusing to pay employees for time spent putting on and taking off protective clothing and waiting for sharpened knives. The department has yet to compute total back wages and interest due, though the judge estimated that the unpaid work averaged about 14 minutes a day for each of 23,500 employees over two years. Dakota City, Neb.-based IBP said it will fight the court order. The order would affect employees at 11 plants in six states. The Labor Department filed the suit in 1988 after receiving complaints from workers.