May 8, 2024

Judge upholds findings that Maryland subcontractor denied 55 workers on federally funded project their full pay, fringe benefits, owes $186K

WASHINGTON – An administrative law judge has upheld the findings of a U.S. Department of Labor investigation into the employment practices of a Bowie, Maryland concrete subcontractor and its owners that found the employers wrongly classified workers on a federally funded affordable housing project in the District of Columbia in violation of federal regulations.

May 7, 2024

El Departamento de Trabajo de EE. UU. descubre que restaurante en Arkansas despidió ilegalmente a un trabajador que hizo uso de una ausencia médica protegida por la ley federal

 

Nombre del empleador:       Mi Casita Mexican Restaurant Inc., que opera bajo el nombre comercial El Lorito

Sitios de investigación:        3105 S 70th St. 

May 7, 2024

US Department of Labor finds Arkansas restaurants’ operator illegally fired worker who used federally protected medical leave

Employer name:               Mi Casita Mexican Restaurant Inc., operating as El Lorito 

Investigation sites:         3105 S 70th St. 

May 6, 2024

Fayette Janitorial Service agrees to pay $649K in penalties, hire outside consultant to prevent child labor employment in sanitation contracts

SIOUX CITY, IA – The Department of Labor has entered into a consent order and judgment, approved by a federal court in Iowa on May 6, 2024, with a Tennessee cleaning contractor that requires the employer to pay $649,304 in civil money penalties, hire a third-party to review and implement company policies to prevent the employment of children in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act and establish a program for reporting concerns

May 6, 2024

US Department of Labor recovers $190K in back wages, damages for 4 employees denied minimum wage, overtime by Lansing group homes operator

Employers:    Medhealth Suppliers & Providers Inc, operating as Evergreen Place, Evergreen Place 2 

                        and Bedford Home, Lansing, Michigan

May 2, 2024

Department of Labor finds children employed illegally in dangerous jobs, obtains $4.8M in wages, damages for poultry industry workers in California

WASHINGTON – In one of the largest wage violation settlements ever reached for U.S. poultry workers, a federal court in Los Angeles has entered a consent judgment that orders Fu Qian Chen Lu, Bruce Shu Hua Lok and others as owners and operators of a network of California poultry processors and distributors to pay $4.8 million in back wages and damages to 476 workers and $221,919 in penalties after a U.S. Department of Labor investigation. 

May 1, 2024

Department of Labor recovers $538K in back wages, damages from Maryland residential rehabilitation provider for 37 landscaping workers denied full pay

Department of Labor recovers $538K in back wages, damages from Maryland residential rehabilitation provider for 37 landscaping workers denied full pay

Employer:                  

Divine Connect Care Inc.

Location:                    

3311 Toledo Terrace

May 1, 2024

Department of Labor recovers $422K in back wages, damages for 219 workers employed by home care providers in Baton Rouge, Greensburg, Shreveport 

 NEW ORLEANS  While people employed in the home care industry are among the nation’s lowest paid workers and are routinely expected to work long hours to help those in need, these workers are too often shortchanged by their employers’ unfair and illegal pay practices. 

April 30, 2024

US Department of Labor recovers $52K owed to workers with disabilities by Amarillo nonprofit operator that underpaid wages

AMARILLO, TX – The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered $52,497 in back wages for 134 workers with disabilities after an Amarillo nonprofit – which provides rehabilitation and vocational training services to adults with developmental and physical disabilities – failed to pay them the required subminimum wage rate.

April 30, 2024

Department of Labor seeking input from North Carolina highway construction industry for wage survey to establish prevailing wage rates

RALEIGH, NC – The Department of Labor is encouraging employers and stakeholders in North Carolina’s highway construction industry to participate in a statewide survey to help its Wage and Hour Division establish prevailing wage rates for construction workers on federally funded and assisted construction projects.

April 29, 2024

US Department of Labor recovers $92K in back wages, damages from Florida outdoor furniture manufacturer that denied overtime to piece-rate workers

Employer:      Alumatech Furniture Manufacturing Inc. 

6063 17th St. 

East Bradenton, FL 34203

April 26, 2024

US Department of Labor finalizes farmworker protection rule

WASHINGTON – The Department of Labor today announced a final rule to strengthen protections for farmworkers. The rule targets vulnerability and abuses experienced by workers under the H-2A program that undermine fair labor standards for all farmworkers in the U.S. 

April 25, 2024

Department of Labor will offer online wage seminars in May, August on prevailing wage requirements for federally funded projects

WASHINGTON – The Department of Labor today announced its Wage and Hour Division will offer contracting agencies, contractors, unions, workers and other stakeholders opportunities in May or August to attend an online seminar on meeting federal requirements for paying prevailing wages on federally funded construction and service contracts.

April 25, 2024

US Department of Labor recovers $245K for 10 cooks whose employer deliberately denied overtime, minimum wages; assesses $8K in penalties

SACRAMENTO, CA The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered $245,722 in back wages and damages for 10 cooks after investigators found the owner and operator of four northern California restaurants denied them required overtime and minimum wages knowingly. 

April 24, 2024

Vermont restaurant retaliated against server, underpaid workers, violated child labor provisions, US Department of Labor investigation finds

MANCHESTER, NH – A Vermont restaurant server will receive $50,000 in punitive damages and $829 in back pay, after a U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division investigation found the employer retaliated against them by terminating their employment for refusing to share tips with a manager.

April 24, 2024

Department of Labor recovers nearly $85K in owed wages for 32 mobile home transportation drivers, laborers misclassified as independent contractors

Employer name:                    Paredes Inc., operating as Superior Service

Investigation sites:               75 Garrett Trail 

                                                         Maxwell, TX 78656

April 24, 2024

El Departamento de Trabajo recupera casi $85K para 32 conductores de transporte erróneamente clasificados como contratistas independientes

Nombre del empleador:                   Paredes Inc., que opera como Superior Service

Sitios de investigación:                     75 Garrett Trail 

April 23, 2024

Department of Labor obtains judgment ordering contractor to pay nearly $1.2M in wages, damages, penalties for illegal employment practices

WASHINGTON  The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a consent judgment in federal court that orders a Virginia concrete contractor to pay nearly $1.2 million in back wages, damages and penalties after its investigation found the employer misclassified 29 employees as independent contractors and failed to pay proper overtime to its employees.

April 23, 2024

Biden-Harris administration finalizes rule to increase compensation thresholds for overtime eligibility, expanding protections for millions of workers

WASHINGTON – The Biden-Harris administration today announced a final rule that expands overtime protections for millions of the nation’s lower-paid salaried workers by increasing the salary thresholds required to exempt a salaried bona fide executive, administrative or professional employee from federal overtime pay requirements. 

April 22, 2024

Federal court orders 4 Arizona contractors to pay over $3.2M in owed wages, damages to 890 workers after Department of Labor investigations

PHOENIX – The U.S. Department of Labor announced today that efforts to protect residential construction workers from unlawful pay practices have recovered a total of $3.2 million in wages and damages from four Arizona contractors for 890 workers.