WEST COVINA, CA – Investigations conducted by the U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division often reveal violations caused by a misunderstanding of federal law as well as blatant efforts to intentionally shortchange workers and cheat competitors.

DETROIT – The U.S. Department of Labor’s offices in Detroit and Grand Rapids and the State of Michigan, Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity, Wage and Hour Division have signed a five-year Memorandum of Understanding to provide opportunities for the agencies to conduct joint investigations and joint outreach as well as share training materials and other information as appropriate.

COLUMBIA, SC – Employers who expect their workers to use personal vehicles on behalf of the business must provide mileage reimbursement or they may be in violation of federal law, the operator of two sandwich shops in Clemson and Anderson has learned.

GUAYNABO, PR – A U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division investigation has found a Puerto Rico-based security services company misclassified 136 of its employees as independent contractors, denying them overtime pay required under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act.

GUAYNABO, PR - Una investigación de la División de Horas y Salarios del Departamento de Trabajo de EE.UU.

WEST COVINA, CA – The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered $106,245 in overtime back wages and liquidated damages for 50 employees after finding that their Southern California employer made illegal deductions from workers’ wages and calculated workers’ overtime wages improperly.

HONOLULU – Some restaurant industry employers disregard federal wage and hours requirements recklessly making it harder for vulnerable, low-wage workers to earn a living and for law-abiding employers to compete.

SAN DIEGO – Amid soaring prices in its residential real estate market – with homes selling for an average of $800,000 – a federal investigation has found a San Diego construction contractor failing to share its prosperity and intentionally failing to pay overtime wages as required to 568 drywall installers, tapers and hangers.

 SAN DIEGO - En medio de un aumento desorbitado de precios en su mercado inmobiliario residencial – con casas que se venden en promedio a $800,000 – una investigación federal en San Diego ha descubierto que un contratista de la construcción intencionalmente no pagó salarios debidos por horas extras a 568 instaladores, colgadores y terminadores de paneles de yeso.  

DALLAS – Twenty-nine workers who offer home care services to elderly and terminally ill clients were shortchanged by their Dallas employer’s failure to pay them overtime wages as the law requires, a federal investigation recently discovered.

CLIFTON, NJ – Employers have a responsibility to compensate employees as required by law for travel from one job site to another. This was not the case for 93 workers underpaid by a northern New Jersey electrical contractor for work-related travel time, a U.S. Department of Labor investigation found. 

CONWAY, SC – A recent U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division investigation serves as a useful reminder for companies that employ teenage students that putting work before school will receive more than a failing grade, it will likely come with violations and costly penalties.

CHESTERFIELD, MI – A Chesterfield electrical subcontractor violated the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts by paying electricians, laborers and apprentices on a federal construction project less than the required prevailing wage rates and benefits.

HONOLULU – A Kailua gas and service station’s reckless disregard for compliance with the federal Fair Labor Standards Act has led to the recovery of $22,851 for five service technicians and cashiers denied overtime they earned when they worked more than 40 hours in a workweek.

SAIPAN – A Saipan dry food, spice and canned food wholesaler paid four workers a fixed, “off-the-books” cash salary that dropped their regular hourly wage below the required federal $7.25 minimum wage rate, and denied them overtime when they worked more than 40 hours in a workweek, a federal investigation has found.

PITTSBURGH – A federal court in Pittsburgh has entered a consent judgment in which a company that provided land services for the oil and gas industry admitted liability for more than $40 million in back wages and damages after a U.S. Department of Labor investigation found Fair Labor Standards Act violations.

WESTWOOD, NJ – Owners of two Westwood car wash establishments and an oil change shop routinely shortchanged employees who worked long hours doing physically demanding work. As a result of a federal investigation and recent court order, the firm must pay $325,000 in back wages and liquidated damages for failing to pay the minimum wage and overtime. Some employees who worked as many as 70 hours in a workweek received only straight time for all the hours they worked.

DANVILLE, VA – Fifty-three personal care aides and certified nursing assistants of a Danville home healthcare agency worked overtime hours to provide clients with compassionate care and a better quality of life, but their employer failed to pay them $99,427 for the additional time worked – overtime back wages the U.S. Department of Labor has recovered for them.

DANVILLE, VA - Cincuenta y tres auxiliares de atención personal y asistentes de enfermería certificados de una agencia de atención sanitaria a domicilio de Danville trabajaron horas extraordinarias para brindarles a sus clientes un cuidado compasivo y una mejor calidad de vida, pero su empleador no les pagó $99,427 por el tiempo adicional trabajado. Los salarios atrasados por horas extras han sido recuperados por el Departamento de Trabajo de EE.UU.

SACRAMENTO – Mientras que trabajadores de un restaurant al Norte de California trabajaban duro para satisfacer a los clientes y ayudar al negocio a seguir adelante durante la pandemia, su empleador intencionalmente no les pagaba los salarios requeridos por sobretiempo, lo que ha llegado a tener costosas consecuencias para los propietarios del negocio.