ORLANDO, FL – The federal Family and Medical Leave Act protects workers from being forced by their employers to choose between their health or their job, so when a regional railroad fired an engineer who sought protected leave, the U.S. Department of Labor investigated.

Date of action:  June 13, 2023

Type of action:  Fair Labor Standards Act consent order and permanent injunction

Names of defendants:   811 Autoworks LLC, operating as AOK Walker Luxury Autoworks 

                                                Miles Walker

NASHVILLE, TN – The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered $270,751 in back wages after investigators learned a Nashville restaurant required servers to share tips with dishwashers and failed to pay some workers overtime wages when required. In all, 82 employees will benefit from the wage recovery.

ALBANY, NY – The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered $37,103 in back wages for 86 workers employed by three agricultural industry employers — a Wayne County farm, a Michigan farm labor contractor and a Genesee County warehouse operator — whose employment practices shortchanged their wages and denied monies owed to them under federal regulations protecting temporary farmworkers.

ALBANY, NY - El Departamento de Trabajo de EE.UU. ha recuperado $37,103 en salarios atrasados para 86 trabajadores empleados por tres empleadores de la industria agrícola -una granja del condado de Wayne, un contratista de trabajo agrícola de Michigan y un operador de almacén del condado de Genesee- cuyas prácticas de empleo les rebajaron los salarios y les negaron el dinero que se les debía en virtud de la normativa federal que protege a los trabajadores agrícolas temporales.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor announced today that its Wage and Hour Division will offer online seminars for contracting agencies, contractors, unions, workers and other stakeholders on the requirements for paying prevailing wages on federally funded construction and service contracts.

Employer:                                         

Rincon Brewery Inc.

4100 Telegraph Road

Ventura, CA 93003

VIRGINIA BEACH, VA – The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered more than $604,000 in back wages and liquidated damages for 50 employees of a Virginia Beach home healthcare agency that illegally asked workers to waive their right to receive hard-earned overtime pay.

SACRAMENTO - El equipo de investigación federal de horas y salarios ha visto empresas corruptas intentar todo tipo de estafas para pagar menos salarios al personal y para intimidar o tomar represalias contra el personal, pero el intento de un restaurante del norte de California de usar un supuesto sacerdote para hacer que el personal admita "pecados" en el lugar de trabajo puede estar entre las más desvergonzadas.

LABELLE, FL – Federal investigators have found that a subcontractor employed during construction of a new reservoir pump station on the Caloosahatchee River in Hendry County failed to pay 11 electricians the correct wage rate for the federally supported project, denying them $171,998 in wages and benefits.

FORT WAYNE, IN – The U.S. Department of Labor has taken federal court action against the operator of 10 Fort Wayne-area restaurants that failed to pay $290,000 in back wages and damages to 30 employees.

SACRAMENTO – Federal wage and hour investigators have seen corrupt employers try all kinds of scams to shortchange workers and to intimidate or retaliate against employees but a northern California restaurant’s attempt to use an alleged priest to get employees to admit workplace “sins” may be among the most shameless.

LABELLE, FL - El equipo de investigación federal ha descubierto que un subcontratista empleado durante la construcción de una nueva estación de bombeo de reserva en el río Caloosahatchee en el condado de Hendry no pagaba a 11 electricistas la tarifa de salario correcta para el proyecto con apoyo federal, negándoles $171,998 en concepto de salarios y beneficios.

SANTA FE SPRINGS, CA – The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a consent judgment as part of its efforts to recover $650,000 in unpaid overtime wages for 26 delivery drivers of a Santa Fe Springs food manufacturer that misclassified them as independent contractors exempt from overtime.

SANTA FE SPRINGS, CA – El Departamento de Trabajo de EE.UU. ha obtenido un dictamen por consentimiento para la recuperación de $650,000 en salarios de horas extra no pagados a 26 conductores de entrega de productos empleados por un fabricante de alimentos de Santa Fe Springs que los clasificó erróneamente como contratistas independientes exentos al pago de taridas de horas extra.

Employer name:       

Hinton Investigations Inc.

516 Main St.

East Orange, New Jersey 07018

Employer:                              Tipsy Holding II LLC, operating as Tipsy Taco

Investigation sites:               215 Pelham Road, Greenville, SC 29615 – Headquarters

                                                15 Conostee Ave., Greenville, SC 29605

                                                728 Wade Hampton Blvd., Greenville, SC 29609

PHILADELPHIA – A federal court has ordered a Philadelphia home care agency and its owner to pay more than $7 million in back wages and liquidated damages to 1,230 current and former employees after two years of litigation affirmed the U.S. Department of Labor’s finding that the employers willfully failed to pay overtime wages, in most cases by not including employees’ time for work-related travel when calculating wages.

SAN FRANCISCO – Home to thousands of winemakers who produce 80 percent of the wine in the U.S., California vineyards also yield their share of unscrupulous employers who profit by taking advantage of migrant and seasonal farmworkers as the harvest season approaches.

To combat violations that deny workers their hard-earned wages or jeopardize their safety, the U.S. Department of Labor has stepped up its outreach and enforcement efforts in the Golden State.

Employer name:       Petroline Inc., operator of Putnam Truck Stop                                                                                                                                                                           565 Tonnele Ave., Jersey City, New Jersey 07307