WALTERBORO, SC – A U.S. Department of Labor investigation found a Walterboro landscaping company failed to reimburse workers employed in the U.S. under the H-2B guest worker program for their travel costs and failed to pay wage rates as required.

ORLANDO, FL – Employers cannot avoid paying overtime by simply putting employees on a salary, a costly lesson learned by a Florida equipment rental company after a U.S. Department of Labor investigation.

KANSAS CITY, MO – After long days spent toiling in fields under a hot Missouri sun, immigrant workers returned to what was once a county jail where their employer housed them in unsanitary living conditions and added to their misery by failing to pay them the wages they earned under their contract.

DETROIT – Timothy Schultz, sole owner of a now defunct Detroit-area transport company, will pay $273,820 – representing $252,416 in overtime back wages and $21,404 in interest  –  to 326 former drivers to resolve a U.S.

Employer name:                   Area Wide Protection Inc., doing business as Roadtek Traffic Solutions LLC                                                                                                               5874 N. Lee Highway, Suite 100                                                                                                                                                                                                         Fairfield, VA 24435

Employer name:                                Heavenly Victory LLC, doing business as Naranjero Super 1

Investigation site:                              Albuquerque, New Mexico

PORTLAND, OR – The U.S. Department of Labor enforces laws that protect workers’ rights. It also holds unscrupulous employers who shortchange their workers accountable, as it has done on behalf of 118 workers at three Oregon restaurants after an investigation revealed wage theft and other violations.

CHICAGO ‒ Careworkers put in long hours tending to the vital needs of people in their homes and at health care facilities, yet they are among the nation’s lowest paid workers. Their jobs are made even more difficult when employers fail to pay them all their rightfully earned wages.

AMERICAN CANYON, CA – A federal investigation has recovered $315,536 in back wages for 158 workers of American Canyon home care agency where the owner and CEO unlawfully required hourly employees who earned significant overtime to sign an agreement to be paid straight time for up to 160 hours per pay period.

LAUREL RUN, PA – An investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor recovered $221,307 in back wages and damages for 32 nursing staff employees of a Luzerne County treatment center found to be intentionally shortchanging workers of their overtime pay repeatedly.

SAN DIEGO – Un franquiciado de McDonald’s pagará $25,920 en multas luego de que una investigación del Departamento de Trabajo de EE.UU. descubriera que el empleador asignó a empleados menores de edad trabajos peligrosos en tres ubicaciones de Santa Ana, en violación de las leyes de trabajo infantil.

JACKSONVILLE, FL – The miscalculation of overtime wages and child labor violations have taken a slice of the profits from the operator of three Jacksonville pizzerias, following an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor.

SAN DIEGO – A McDonald’s franchisee has agreed to pay $25,920 in civil money penalties after a U.S. Department of Labor investigation found the employer assigned minor-aged employees at three Santa Ana locations hazardous work in violation of child labor laws.

JACKSONVILLE, FL – The U.S. Department of Labor has found $118,042 in back wages and liquidated damages due to 10 employees of a Jacksonville restaurant operator who forced servers to work for tips alone, denied overtime wages to others and failed to keep accurate records of the hours employees worked.

Date of action:                       Feb. 22, 2022

Type of action:                      Complaint

Court:                                     U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, Gainesville Division

JACKSONVILLE, FL - El Departamento de Trabajo de los Estados Unidos ha recuperado $118,042 en concepto de salarios atrasados y daños y perjuicios liquidados a 10 empleados de un operador de restaurantes de Jacksonville que obligaba a los camareros a trabajar sólo por las propinas, negaba el pago de horas extras y no mantenía registros precisos de las horas que los empleados trabajaban.

FORT WAYNE, IN – The operator of seven Fort Wayne area restaurants shortchanged 17 of its managers when the salary it paid was determined to be insufficient to relieve the employer of its overtime obligations. This led to a violation of overtime pay requirements when employees worked more than 40 hours in a workweek, a U.S. Department of Labor investigation has found.

BANCROFT, ID – Guest workers often travel hundreds, if not thousands of miles from their native countries to the U.S. to perform seasonal work, much of it in the agricultural industry. Their work is vital to the nation’s food supply, and they leave their homes and families under the belief that their employer will comply with the requirements of the H-2A program that protect their wages and well-being.

FORT WAYNE, IN - El operador de siete restaurantes del área de Fort Wayne estafó a 17 de sus gerentes cuando se determinó que el salario que les pagaba era insuficiente para eximir al empleador de su obligación de pagar horas extras. Esto implicó una violación de los requisitos de pago de horas extras cuando los empleados trabajaban más de 40 horas en una semana laboral, según descubrió una investigación del Departamento Laboral de EE. UU.

BANCROFT, ID – Trabajadores viajan con frecuencia cientos y hasta miles de millas desde sus países de origen hasta EE.UU. para realizar trabajo temporal, especialmente en la industria agrícola. Su labor es vital para el suministro de alimentos a la nación, y dejan sus hogares y familias confiados que sus empleadores cumplirán con los requisitos del programa H-2A que protege sus salarios y bienestar.