FARGO, N.D. — A Fargo-based hotel owner who cheated his workers out of their wages must pay more than $180,000 to approximately 200 current and former workers at 15 North Dakota, Montana and Minnesota hotels.

The U.S. District Court of North Dakota has entered a consent judgment ordering Bharat I. Patel to pay back wages and liquidated damages to resolve a lawsuit brought by the U.S. Department of Labor and the U.S. Attorney for the District of North Dakota.

Employer name: Pegasso Construction & Floor Covering LLC

Investigation site: Office at 1746 Hazel Wood Drive, Marietta, Ga., 30067 and various jobsites including Ft. Gordon army base in Augusta, Ga.

Participants: U.S. Department of Labor, Kentucky Labor Cabinet

Description: Officials from the U.S. Department of Labor and the Kentucky Labor Cabinet signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the goal of protecting the rights of employees by preventing their misclassification as independent contractors or other non-employee statuses. Under the agreement, both agencies may share information and coordinate law enforcement.

PHILADELPHIA — More than 160 workers at a Philadelphia direct mail and printing company will receive $1.45 million in back wages and damages after a federal investigation found their employer and a staffing agency failed to pay overtime wages.

SAN ANTONIO — Tipped employees may know the value of a hard-earned dollar better than anyone. Every dollar counts in their profession because tips account for all but a small portion of hourly wages. So, when they receive improper minimum wage and overtime pay, it stings. For 82 waiters and kitchen employees of China Sea Restaurants in San Antonio, this happened.

Date and Time: Thursday, July 16, 2015 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. EDT

Location:

Charlotte Mecklenburg Main Library Francis Auditorium 310 North Tryon Street Charlotte, North Carolina 28202 (The closest parking is at the 7th Street Station parking deck)

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Restaurant workers put in long, grueling hours on-the-job, yet they are among the lowest paid workers in the U.S. Making ends meet is hard enough when they're paid properly, but it's nearly impossible when their employer does not pay them for all hours worked.

INDIANAPOLIS — The great service, authentic Mexican food and unique groceries found at three Carniceria Guanajuato Mexican grocery stores and restaurants in Indianapolis inspire customers to post rave reviews at websites like Yelp and Urbanspoon.

Behind their smiles, the hard-working people who bake specialty breads, butcher prime meat, wait and bus tables and operate the registers at these establishments struggle to meet basic needs on the low wages earned. Their challenge only worsens when their employer does not pay them for all hours worked.

OKLAHOMA CITY — Heavy construction in Oklahoma continues to boom as the state's Department of Transportation repairs or replaces aging bridges and roads. An influx of contractors brings new jobs and often a host of labor law violations that apply to these projects.

NEW ORLEANS — Six Gulf Coast staffing agencies have agreed to pay thousands of workers nearly $3.5 million in back wages after U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division investigators found part of their wages were mislabeled as "per diem" payments as reimbursement for expenses they never incurred.

Federal investigators found the agencies owed back wages to more than 3,000 workers – welders, electricians, pipe fitters, and other craftspeople – on maritime vessels and other oil and gas industry projects.

MANKATO, Minn. — Twenty-five employees of a Minnesota restaurant will receive almost $355,000 in back wages after U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division investigators found that the eatery violated minimum wage, overtime and record-keeping provisions in the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Employer: Calmaui Inc., doing business as Pineapple Grill at Kapalua

Site: 200 Kapalua Dr., Lahaina, Hawaii 96761

Violations found by investigators will help more than 100 restaurant and hotel workers

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — At a University of Michigan Wolverines' home game, 109,000 college football fans often cram into "The Big House," the stadium known to hold nearly all Ann Arbor residents. Game weekends mean an increased demand for workers at packed bars, restaurants and hotels.

More than $89K in penalties also assessed for H-2A violations

ASHLAND, Neb. — Farmworkers harvesting melons, cucumbers, pumpkins and squash on a Nebraska farm labored long hours to put fresh produce on Midwestern tables, but were denied the wages they earned and were legally entitled to receive when their employer failed to follow the law.

SAN ANTONIO — The latest investigation in the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division ongoing enforcement initiative, focused on the oil and gas industry in New Mexico and Texas, has helped 188 workers who will receive $157,000 in back wages after investigators found their employer violated the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Wage and Hour Division investigators in the San Antonio District Office found that Elite Production Services LLC failed to include the workers' bonus payments when calculating their rates of pay for overtime hours.

Type of Action: Fair Labor Standards Act Lawsuit

Name of Defendant: Here to Help Learning Academy LLC and Michele Blake in Columbus, Ohio

Allegations: An investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division found that the Columbus, Ohio-based Here to Help Learning Academy LLC violated the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Employer: Ri-Ky Roofing

Sites: 10213 NE Marx St., Portland, Oregon

Employer: Hot Rods Restaurant Inc. and Hot Rods Garage Inc., doing business as Hotrods Old Vail

Site: 10500 East Old Vail Road, Tucson, Arizona

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Jeffrey Angstadt didn't want days off to relax. In September 2010 and over the months that followed, the furniture sales executive told his employer, Staples Contract and Commercial, Inc., a subsidiary of Staples, Inc., that he needed to take leave to care for his critically ill wife. While Angstadt was eligible for federal workplace protections for those coping with the illness of a family member, no one at Staples notified him as the law requires.

Employer name: Shogun Japanese Steakhouse Inc., and Shogun Japanese Steakhouse of Louisville Inc.

Investigation site: 3991 University Drive, Huntsville, Alabama, 4110 Hampton Lake Way and 9026 Taylorsville Road, Louisville, Kentucky