Department of Labor recovers $538K in back wages, damages from Maryland residential rehabilitation provider for 37 landscaping workers denied full pay

Employer:                  

Divine Connect Care Inc.

Location:                    

3311 Toledo Terrace

Hyattsville, MD 20782

Investigation findings:   

 NEW ORLEANS – While people employed in the home care industry are among the nation’s lowest paid workers and are routinely expected to work long hours to help those in need, these workers are too often shortchanged by their employers’ unfair and illegal pay practices. 

RALEIGH, NC – The Department of Labor is encouraging employers and stakeholders in North Carolina’s highway construction industry to participate in a statewide survey to help its Wage and Hour Division establish prevailing wage rates for construction workers on federally funded and assisted construction projects.

The Davis-Bacon and Related Acts require the department to set the prevailing wage rates that reflect the actual wages and fringe benefits paid to construction workers in the county where the work occurs. 

AMARILLO, TX – The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered $52,497 in back wages for 134 workers with disabilities after an Amarillo nonprofit – which provides rehabilitation and vocational training services to adults with developmental and physical disabilities – failed to pay them the required subminimum wage rate.

Employer:      Alumatech Furniture Manufacturing Inc. 

6063 17th St. 

East Bradenton, FL 34203

WASHINGTON – The Department of Labor today announced a final rule to strengthen protections for farmworkers. The rule targets vulnerability and abuses experienced by workers under the H-2A program that undermine fair labor standards for all farmworkers in the U.S. 

WASHINGTON – The Department of Labor today announced its Wage and Hour Division will offer contracting agencies, contractors, unions, workers and other stakeholders opportunities in May or August to attend an online seminar on meeting federal requirements for paying prevailing wages on federally funded construction and service contracts.

SACRAMENTO, CA – The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered $245,722 in back wages and damages for 10 cooks after investigators found the owner and operator of four northern California restaurants denied them required overtime and minimum wages knowingly. 

Nombre del empleador:                   Paredes Inc., que opera como Superior Service

Sitios de investigación:                     75 Garrett Trail 

MANCHESTER, NH – A Vermont restaurant server will receive $50,000 in punitive damages and $829 in back pay, after a U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division investigation found the employer retaliated against them by terminating their employment for refusing to share tips with a manager.

Employer name:                    Paredes Inc., operating as Superior Service

Investigation sites:               75 Garrett Trail 

                                                         Maxwell, TX 78656

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a consent judgment in federal court that orders a Virginia concrete contractor to pay nearly $1.2 million in back wages, damages and penalties after its investigation found the employer misclassified 29 employees as independent contractors and failed to pay proper overtime to its employees.

WASHINGTON – The Biden-Harris administration today announced a final rule that expands overtime protections for millions of the nation’s lower-paid salaried workers by increasing the salary thresholds required to exempt a salaried bona fide executive, administrative or professional employee from federal overtime pay requirements. 

PHOENIX – The U.S. Department of Labor announced today that efforts to protect residential construction workers from unlawful pay practices have recovered a total of $3.2 million in wages and damages from four Arizona contractors for 890 workers.

SACRAMENTO, CA – The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered $447,952 in back wages and damages from the operator of three Kern County grocery stores for 60 workers after a federal investigation found the employer illegally withheld overtime wages for hours over 40 in a workweek.

SACRAMENTO, CA. El Departamento de Trabajo de EE.UU. recuperó $447,952 en salarios y compensación por daños a operador de tres tiendas de alimentación del condado de Kern para 60 trabajadores después de que una investigación federal descubrió que el empleador ilegalmente negó pagar como sobretiempo las horas trabajadas por encima de 40 en una semana laboral.

WHO:             U.S. Department of Labor 

WHAT:          2024 Forum: 

                        “Ensuring a Strong Foundation of Compliance with Federal Labor Laws in Construction”

WHEN:          May 8-9, 2024

                       9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. CDT

WHERE:       No cost to attend this online event. Registration is required for each day individually. 

QUIÉN:          Departamento de Trabajo de EE. UU. 

QUÉ:              Foro 2024: 

Employer name:       

John Mirza Landscaping Inc.  

Employer address:    

49 Spring Valley Road

Montvale, NJ 07645 

BIRMINGHAM, AL – A series of U.S.