July 16, 2020

U.S. Department of Labor Offers Webinars for Employers, Employees in Mandarin, Cantonese on Paid Leave in the Families First Coronavirus Response Act

WEST COVINA, CA – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) announced today that it will offer webinars on July 23, 2020, to help employers and employees in Southern California’s Chinese communities understand the benefits and protections provided by the paid sick leave provisions of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA). Webinars will be offered in both Mandarin and Cantonese.

July 16, 2020

County of Carver, Minnesota Pays Employee Back Wages After Wrongly Denying Paid Leave Due to Coronavirus-Related Daycare Closure

COUNTY OF CARVER, MN After an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD), the County of Carver, Minnesota, has paid an employee $1,136 in back wages for wrongly denying the worker’s request for paid leave to care for her child when her daycare center closed amid the coronavirus pandemic, a violation of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA).

July 15, 2020

U.S. Department of Labor Offers Webinars for Business Owners, Employers and Other Stakeholders on Coronavirus-Related Paid Leave

MILWAUKEE, WI – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) in Wisconsin, the IRS and the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) are presenting a series of webinars on paid sick leave, and expanded family and medical leave requirements of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) for employers and business owners.

July 15, 2020

Court Finds Massachusetts Companies and Officers in Contempt For Withholding from Employees More Than $1 Million in Back Wages

BOSTON, MA – The U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts has found two Massachusetts construction companies and two of their officers in civil contempt for failing to fulfill certain terms of an August 2016 consent judgment and order requiring them to pay $2,359,685 in back wages and liquidated damages to 478 employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

July 15, 2020

U.S. Department of Labor Offers Webinar for Business Owners, Employers and Other Stakeholders on Coronavirus-Related Paid Leave

BRIGHTON, MI – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) will present a webinar for Michigan area employers and business owners on paid sick leave and expanded family and medical leave requirements of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA). WHD’s Detroit, Michigan, office and the Howell Area Chamber of Commerce, Heartland Area Chamber of Commerce and Greater Brighton Area Chamber of Commerce are presenting the event.  

July 14, 2020

U.S. Department of Labor’s PAID Program Helps Workers and Employers as America Reopens

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division’s (WHD) Payroll Audit Independent Determination (PAID) Program continues to provide an avenue to get workers the wages they are owed, bring employers into compliance and accomplish both goals with an efficiency that saves taxpayers money, with more than $7 million in back wages found for more than 11,000 workers.

July 13, 2020

U.S. Department of Labor Launches Public Service Campaign to Promote Workers’ Rights to Paid Sick Leave, Safe Workplaces and Lawful Pay

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced the launch of a public awareness campaign to remind workers that the Department’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) is committed to ensuring their workplace rights during the coronavirus pandemic and to ensure that employers know their responsibilities.

July 7, 2020

Lubbock, Texas, Chick-fil-A Franchisee Pays Back Wages To Employees After U.S. Department of Labor Investigation

LUBBOCK, TX – After an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD), West End Futures LLC - operator of a Chick-fil-A franchise in Lubbock, Texas - has paid $12,510 in back wages to 184 employees for violating the Fair Labor Standards Act’s (FLSA) minimum wage and overtime requirements.

July 7, 2020

​​​​​​​U.S. Department of Labor Recovers $61,875 in Back Wages For Tortilla Factory Workers in the Texas Rio Grande Valley

MISSION, TX – After an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD), FELMEX LLC – a tortilla factory with four locations in Texas’ Rio Grande Valley – has paid $61,875 in overtime back wages to 46 employees to resolve violations of the overtime provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

July 7, 2020

Pennsylvania Machine Shop to Pay Back Wages After Denying Employee Paid Sick Leave Request During Coronavirus Pandemic

GREENCASTLE, PA – A compliance action by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) has led Mitchell Machine Shop – based in Greencastle, Pennsylvania – to grant paid sick leave and pay back wages to an employee who requested leave to provide child care due to a coronavirus-related school closing. The agency determined that the employee was entitled to receive paid leave at two-thirds their regular rate of pay for up to 12 weeks under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA).

July 7, 2020

Arkansas Nail Manufacturer Pays $111,895 to Workers to Settle Overtime, Retaliation Violations Following a U.S. Department of Labor Investigations

PRAIRIE GROVE, AR – After an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD), Specialty Fastening Systems Inc. – doing business as Specialty Nail Company in Prairie Grove, Arkansas – has paid $111,895 in back wages to 260 employees to resolve violations of the overtime and anti-retaliation provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

July 7, 2020

U.S. Department of Labor Recovers Back Wages For New Orleans, Louisiana, Restaurant Workers

NEW ORLEANS, LA – After an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD,) L Squared Investment Group LLC – owner and operator of Morrow’s Restaurant in New Orleans, Louisiana – has paid $35,620 in back wages to 65 employees for violating the minimum wage and overtime provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

July 2, 2020

Warehouse Employer Pays Back Wages to Employee Denied Paid Sick Leave Required by New Coronavirus-Related Federal Law

WILMER, TX – After an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD), MBlock and Sons Inc. – operator of a warehouse in Wilmer, Texas – has agreed to pay $857 in back wages after failing to provide an employee paid sick leave after their doctor ordered the employee with potential coronavirus symptoms to self-quarantine.

July 2, 2020

U.S. Department of Labor Offers Webinar on Families First Coronavirus Response Act’s Paid Leave Provisions for Employers and Employees

SALT LAKE CITY, UT – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) in Salt Lake City, Utah, will hold a webinar on July 8, 2020, to help Salt Lake City-area employers and employees understand the benefits and protections provided by the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA).

June 29, 2020

U.S. Department of Labor Issues Interim Final Rule to Implement Provisions of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced an interim final rule providing regulations necessary to implement and administer the high-wage components of the Labor Value Content (LVC) requirements set forth in the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) and the treaty’s implementing statute.

June 29, 2020

Norwell, Massachusetts, Employer Pays Back Wages to Employee Denied Coronavirus-Related Paid Sick and Family Leave

BOSTON, MA – After the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) initiated a compliance action, Consumer Medical – based in Norwell, Massachusetts – has paid an employee $3,076 in back wages to resolve violations of the Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act (EPSLA) and the Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act (EFMLEA) provisions of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA).

June 29, 2020

Charlotte Area Transit System Reinstates Employee, Pays Back Wages After Violating Family and Medical Leave Act

CHARLOTTE, NC – After an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD), the Transit Management of Charlotte Inc. – operating as Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS) – has reinstated and paid one employee $21,998 in back wages for violating requirements of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).

June 29, 2020

U.S. Department of Labor Offers Webinars for Business Owners, Employers and Other Stakeholders on Coronavirus-Related Paid Sick Leave

INDIANAPOLIS, IN – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) in Indianapolis, Indiana, the IRS, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the Indiana Department of Workforce Development (DWD) are presenting a webinar on paid sick leave and expanded family and medical leave requirements of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) for employers and business owners.

June 26, 2020

U.S. Department of Labor Issues Guidance on Child Labor; Paid Sick And Expanded Family and Medical Leave Amid School and Camp Closures

WASHINGTON, DC With school and summer activity schedules greatly altered as America continues to re-open in the wake of the coronavirus, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) today issued two Field Assistance Bulletins to clarify issues relevant to the pandemic’s effects on the workplace.

The bulletins issued today specifically address the following:

June 26, 2020

Orlando Restaurant Pays $30,878 in Back Wages After U.S. Department of Labor Investigation Finds Violations

ORLANDO, FL After an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD), Santos Burgos Corp. – operating as Guavate Restaurant in Orlando, Florida – has paid $30,878 in back wages to 42 employees for violating the minimum wage, overtime and recordkeeping requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).