BOSTON – The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a consent judgment and order prohibiting a Somerville, Massachusetts, restaurant and its owner from retaliating against employees who cooperate in the department’s efforts to enforce the Fair Labor Standards Act. Fakhouri Inc. – operating as Sound Bites Café – and Yasser Mirza must also pay $15,000 in punitive damages to the affected current and former employees in connection with the department’s retaliation claim.

NEW YORK – A federal court has ordered a Brewster home care provider to stop retaliating against employees in an effort to obstruct a U.S. Department of Labor investigation into the employers’ pay practices.

Who:               U.S. Department of Labor

What:             2023 Virtual Agricultural Seminar

When:             March 7, 2023, from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. CST

Where:           Online event. Register to attend.

Employer:                                   North Sunflower Medical Center

Investigation site:                  840 N. Oak Ave.

                                                          Ruleville, MS 38771

ATLANTA- Con un incremento de casi $1,000,000 en salarios atrasados recuperados en el sudeste para los trabajadores de la industria agrícola en 2022, la División de Horas y Salarios del Departamento de Trabajo de EE. UU.

Quién:            Departamento de Trabajo de los Estados Unidos

Qué:                Seminario Agrícola Virtual 2023

Cuándo:         7 de marzo de 2023, de 9 a.m. a 4:30 p.m. CST

Dónde:            Evento en línea. Inscribirse para asistir.

ATLANTA – With a nearly $1 million annual increase in back wages recovered in the Southeast for agricultural industry workers in calendar year 2022, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division is continuing its multi-year initiative to educate industry employers about compliance, and workers about their legal protections under federal law.

Employer:                               ELJ Inc.

Investigation site:                  133 Batting Cage Trail

                                                 Jacksonville, NC 28540

WASHINGTON – Since 2018, the U.S. Department of Labor has seen a 69 percent increase in children being employed illegally by companies. In the last fiscal year, the department found 835 companies it investigated had employed more than 3,800 children in violation of labor laws. The maximum civil monetary penalty under current law for a child labor violation is $15,138 per child. That’s not high enough to be a deterrent for major profitable companies.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced it will publish a final rule to amend how the Adverse Effect Wage Rates for the H-2A program are set to improve the rates’ consistency and accuracy based on the work actually performed by these workers and to better prevent H-2A workers’ employment negatively affecting the wages of U.S. workers in similar positions.

WASHINGTON – As part of its year-long commemoration of the 30th anniversary of the passage of the Family and Medical Leave Act, the U.S. Department of Labor today hosted an online roundtable discussion and launched a new web page to inform workers about federal regulations for job-protected leave to care for a family member.

SAN FRANCISCO – Tras una investigación y litigio en los tribunales, el Departamento de Trabajo de EE.UU. ha logrado un fallo judicial que ordena a un contratista laboral de Salinas pagar más de $460,000 en compensación por daños y multas luego de descubrirse que el contratista retuvo los cheques finales de pago y de gastos de transporte de cientos de trabajadores agrícolas.

ALBANY, NY – A U.S. Department of Labor investigation into two commonly owned Callicoon resorts’ pay and child labor practices was no vacation for the employers after investigators uncovered violations of federal regulations.

NEW YORK – A federal investigation has recovered $113,613 in back wages and liquidated damages for 71 employees of a New York City hotel management company that denied them their full-earned wages, including overtime, by misclassifying many of the affected workers as independent contractors.

Employer: Window World of Southwest Virginia Inc.

Investigation site: 565 East Main St., Wythevillle, VA 24328                                                                                                           

ERIE, PA – A federal investigation has found the franchise operator of seven McDonald’s locations in Erie and Warren illegally allowed 154 minors, ages 14- and 15-years-old, to work at times not permitted by child labor laws and for more hours per week than allowed. The employer also assigned nine workers under age 16 to operate deep fryers in violation of federal law.

SAN FRANCISCO – The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a consent judgment that orders a Salinas labor contractor – who withheld final paychecks and transportation expenses – to hundreds of farmworkers to pay more than $460,000 in damages and penalties, following the department’s investigation and litigation.

ORLANDO, FL – The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered $253,044 in back wages for 93 workers of four Florida restaurants after an investigation found the enterprise did not pay servers any wages and failed to pay other workers overtime rates.

MANCHESTER, NH – The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered more than $3.1 million in back wages and fringe benefits for more than 3,100 workers at a California subcontractor that provided enrollment and dental and vision benefits support to federal employees, retirees and their dependents.

Labor Department fines pizza restaurants $30K for child labor violations, recovers $12K for two managers illegally denied overtime wages

Mio’s Pizza in Cincinnati, Milford allows minors to operate dangerous equipment