HERSHEY, PA – A federal investigation found that a Dunkin’ franchisee violated child labor laws when it allowed 14-and-15-year-olds to work outside permissible hours at three locations in Dauphin and Lebanon counties.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division determined that franchisee Akshar Ashish LLC, operating as Dunkin' and headquartered in Hershey, permitted 14-and-15-year-old employees to:

Employer name:                   Yaghi Enterprises, Inc. operating as Yaghi’s New York Pizzeria

Investigation sites:                12400 Hwy. 71 West, Suite 510, Austin

                                                           4220 W. William Cannon Drive, Suite 120, Austin

                                                             920 N. Vista Ridge Blvd., Suite 550, Cedar Park

LEXINGTON, SC – A U.S. Department of Labor investigation that found child labor violations at nine Burger King franchise locations in the Columbia area has prompted the restaurants’ operator to enter into a compliance agreement and change the way it operates to improve working conditions for minor-aged workers at all current and future locations of this brand.

AKRON, OH – Federal wage investigators have recovered $67,294 in unpaid wages for 29 workers after their Akron employer, a tire equipment maker, allowed them to work for months without pay.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division found McNeil and NRM Inc. failed to pay workers for two-and-one-half months in 2022. The Fair Labor Standards Act mandates that wages are due on the regular payday for the pay period covered.

Employer:                                   Holiday Beach Rentals Inc.

Investigation site:                  17614 Ashley Drive

                                                          Panama City Beach, FL 32413

POPLAR BLUFF, MO – A U.S. Department of Labor investigation has recovered $171,834 for 75 servers, sushi and hibachi chefs employed at a Poplar Bluff restaurant where numerous violations of federal wage and hour laws denied some workers their full tips, and all of them, their legally earned wages.

ATLANTA - An ongoing federal initiative to ensure that Southeast employers comply with federal laws regarding the employment of temporary nonimmigrant workers with H-2B guest visas has made significant progress in holding violators accountable for infringing on workers’ rights.

SALT LAKE CITY - Una investigación del Departamento de Trabajo de EE. UU. recuperó $602,745 en salarios atrasados para 127 empleados de una empresa de instalación de baldosas de Woods Cross que les negaba sus salarios completos y sus beneficios.

ALEXANDRIA, VA – The U.S. Department of Labor obtained a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction to prohibit a federal contractor and its owners from retaliating against former and current employees who cooperate with an investigation by the department’s Wage and Hour Division.

HONOLULU – A U.S. Department of Labor investigation has recovered $28,455 in unpaid overtime wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages from a Big Island nursery and landscaping company after they failed to pay overtime wages to 37 employees.

SALT LAKE CITY – An investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor has recovered $602,745, in overtime back wages for 127 employees of a Woods Cross tile installation company that denied them their full wages and benefits.

Employer:                              Always Reliable Management Services Inc.

Investigation site:                  1815 W. 15th St.

                                                 Panama City, FL 32401

PITTSBURGH – A federal court has ordered a Pennsylvania mother and daughter to pay more than $2.4 million in overtime back wages and liquidated damages, after a three-day trial confirmed the pair used illegal pay practices to avoid paying full wages to 345 workers who provided daily living assistance and home healthcare in the Pittsburgh area.

Employer name:                   IV Waste LLC

Investigation site:                730 South Pierce St.                                                                                     

                                                       New Orleans, LA 70119

PITTSBURGH –  The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered $65,640 in back wages and liquidated damages for three workers at two Pittsburgh-area gas station and convenience stores after its investigation found the employer had a history of shortchanging workers and violating federal overtime laws.

SINKING SPRING, PA – The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a consent judgment requiring a Sinking Spring home healthcare agency and its operator– which intentionally misclassified workers as independent contractors and misapplied an overtime rule to avoid paying full wages – to pay 75 caregiver employees a total of $293,990 in back wages and liquidated damages.

INDIANAPOLIS – The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered $92,326 in back wages and liquidated damages for 18 workers whose employer paid them a fixed weekly rate to stock shelves, serve customers at meat counters and operate cash registers at three LaCanasta Grocery stores in Indianapolis.

Employer:                                      American Pizza Empire LLC

                                                            Marco’s Pizza

                                                            5918 Providence Road

                                                            Riverview, FL 33578

PERRY, OH – An Ohio nursery owner’s history of violations, coupled with allegations that they intimidated and threatened workers, and denied them their full wages, has led the U.S. Department of Labor to assess $76,278, in penalties and to debar the Perry employer from participating in the federal agricultural visa program for three years.

GUAYNABO, PR – While 62 employees at two hospice care centers in Puerto Rico provided vital services to comfort terminally ill people and their families, a U.S. Department of Labor investigation has found their employer’s pay practices hurt their ability to care for themselves and their families.