TAMPA, Fla. — A multiyear enforcement initiative conducted by the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division has uncovered widespread labor violations in the central Florida agricultural industry. The initiative focused on hand-harvested crops — including citrus, strawberries, tomatoes, blueberries and watermelons — where many vulnerable migrant workers are employed and recovered average back wages of $340 per worker, more than enough to buy a week's worth of groceries.

OLDSMAR, Fla. — The U.S. Department of Labor has secured $140,393 in back wages and an equal amount of liquidated damages totaling $280,786 for 101 individuals employed by Federal Verification Co. Inc., doing business as GSA Applications based in Oldsmar, Florida. Federal Verification prepares applications for businesses that seek to obtain federal contracts. Nearly $200,000 in wages and damages is due to inside salespeople who made less than the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour.

WASHINGTON — Officials from the U.S. Department of Labor and the New Hampshire Department of Labor has signed a memorandum of understanding with the goal of protecting the rights of employees by preventing their misclassification as something other than employees, such as independent contractors or other nonemployee statuses.

Investigations find minimum wage, overtime, housing and transportation violations

US Labor Department finds workers owed more than $3M in most recent year alone

DETROIT — Hot Wheel City Inc. and general manager Nael Abouna signed a consent judgment agreeing to pay 61 Detroit-area employees $97,500 in unpaid wages and damages to resolve a lawsuit brought by the U.S. Department of Labor. The lawsuit, filed with the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, was the result of an investigation by the department's Wage and Hour Division. The investigation determined that the company violated the Fair Labor Standards Act by failing to pay employees minimum wage and overtime and by failing to keep required records.

ARPIN, Wis. — The U.S. Department of Labor has sued Carl's Landscape Service Inc. in Arpin, alleging that the company retaliated against two workers for contacting the department's Wage and Hour Division with a complaint about unpaid overtime.

LAS VEGAS — The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered $1,914,681.50 in back wages and fringe benefits for 147 workers at Proimtu Mmi-Nv LLC, a Henderson-based subcontractor providing construction services at the federally funded Crescent Dunes Solar Energy Project in Tonopah. This project, which received a $737 million loan guarantee from the U.S. Department of Energy, is a 110 MW solar energy power plant that will power up to 75,000 homes during peak electricity periods.

HOUSTON, Texas — Prime Communications LP, doing business as AT&T Prime Communications LP, has agreed to pay $122,254 in back wages to 255 current and former employees as a result of investigations by the U.S. Department of Labor that found violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

TOLEDO, Ohio — Toledo area restaurant owner Nicholas Tokles has paid 69 cooks, bartenders and servers a total of $38,425 in back wages after an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division found violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act's minimum wage, overtime and record-keeping provisions at his restaurants. A consent judgment, entered in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, Western Division, ordered the payment.

AUSTIN, Texas — A newly upgraded Wage and Hour Division district office has opened in Austin to connect employees, employers, community organizations and other stakeholders with resources and assistance to ensure compliance with federal wage and hour laws. The district office is located in the J.J. Pickle Federal Building at 300 E. 8th St., Suite 865, Austin, 78701.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — An ongoing enforcement initiative conducted by the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division that focused on the agricultural industry in northern and central Florida has uncovered widespread violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act and the field sanitation standards of the Occupational Safety and Health Act.

ATLANTA — The U.S. Department of Labor filed a petition for a temporary restraining order and obtained a consent order in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia enjoining Atlanta business Antico Foods LLC and its owner from intimidating and retaliating against any of their employees who are cooperating in a federal investigation.

WASHINGTON — Officials of the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division and the Alabama Department of Labor today signed a memorandum of understanding to protect the rights of employees by preventing their misclassification as something other than employees, such as independent contractors.

NEW YORK — The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a temporary restraining order in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York enjoining a Poughkeepsie business and its owners from intimidating and retaliating against any of their employees who are cooperating in a federal investigation.

WASHINGTON — Upholding President Obama's promise to make 2014 a year of action to expand opportunity, reward work and grow the middle class, U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez today announced a final rule that raises the minimum wage for workers on federal service and construction contracts to $10.10 per hour. The final rule implements Executive Order 13658, which was announced by the president on Feb. 12, and it will benefit nearly 200,000 American workers.

PHILADELPHIA — The U.S. Department of Labor has filed suit against Philadelphia-based farm labor contractor Heng Heng Agency Inc. and its president and owner Visith Oum for wage violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act and wage, record-keeping, registration and transportation violations of the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act.

MINNEAPOLIS — The owner of a Subway sandwich franchise that failed to pay minimum wages and shaved hours from employees' time records will pay 16 workers a total of $9,800 in back wages and liquidated damages under terms of a consent judgment issued by the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota. The U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division found violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act by Subway of Buffalo Inc. and one of its owners and store manager, Marvin Baugus, which resulted in the lawsuit.

HOUSTON — Shell Oil Co. and Motiva Enterprises LLC, which markets Shell gasoline and other products, have agreed to pay $4,470,764 in overtime back wages to 2,677 current and former chemical and refinery employees as a result of investigations by the U.S. Department of Labor that found violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

RAPID CITY, S.D. — As a result of a three-year multiagency investigation, five South Dakota forestry contractors have been ordered by the U.S. District Court for the District of South Dakota to pay more than $541,000 to 66 workers as a result of significant violations of the Service Contract Act, Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act, Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act and the Fair Labor Standards Act.