POWELL, TN – The nation’s largest Bojangles franchise owner will make enterprise-wide changes to improve working conditions for minor-aged employees and compliance with federal labor regulations at their 118 locations in Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina and Tennessee after entering an enhanced compliance agreement with the U.S. Department of Labor. 

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced a final rule to help employers and workers better understand when a worker qualifies as an employee and when they may be considered an independent contractor under the Fair Labor Standards Act.

MANCHESTER, NH – The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered $184,008 in tips, back wages and liquidated damages for 56 restaurant employees denied their full wages and tips by the operators of two New Hampshire restaurants after an investigation by the department’s Wage and Hour Division. 

DOTHAN, AL – The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered $127,249 in back wages and liquidated damages for 26 workers at an aviation maintenance shop employed by a Dothan staffing company that misclassified them as independent contractors and denied overtime wages. 

HASTINGS, NE: El Departamento de Trabajo de los EE. UU. ha recuperado $230,000 para 545 trabajadores de una planta de procesamiento de carne de Hastings a los que se denegó una compensación por el trabajo previo y posterior al turno, como ponerse y quitarse el equipo de protección y el tiempo de limpieza del equipo.

Read this in English. 

Empleadores:       La Catrina 1 Inc., el nombre comercial es La Catrina Tacos & Tequila Bar

Read this in Spanish. 

Employers:                            La Catrina 1 Inc., operating as La Catrina Tacos & Tequila Bar

                                                155 Hampton Point, Saint Augustine, FL 32092

                                                La Catrina 2 Inc., operating as La Catrina Tacos & Tequila Bar

COLUMBUS, MT – A federal court has ordered the operator of a Columbus residential care facility to pay $332,972 in back wages and liquidated damages to 35 resident workers after the U.S. Department of Labor found the employer underpaid the workers and violated federal law protecting workers with disabilities.

HASTINGS, NE – The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered $230,000 for 545 workers at a Hastings meat processing plant that were denied compensation for pre- and post-shift work such as donning and removing protective gear and equipment cleaning time.

SANTA ANA, CA – El Departamento de Trabajo de EE.UU. ha recuperado $180,299 en salarios atrasados y compensación por daños de tres contratistas de construcción residencial del Condado de Orange cuyas prácticas salariales violaron regulaciones federales, negando a los trabajadores el total de sus pagos legales y legítimos.

SANTA ANA, CA – The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered $180,299 in back wages and damages from three Orange County residential construction contractors whose employment pay practices violated federal regulations and denied workers their rightful and legal wages.

Some of the violations related to an employer’s misclassification of employees as independent contractors, a common violation in the construction industry that deprives workers of full and proper wages, benefits and worker protections under federal law. 

MONTGOMERY, AL – The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered $26,927 in back wages and liquidated damages for 36 employees of an Alabama fast-food enterprise that allowed management at two of its Montgomery locations to deduct time worked illegally, which led to federal minimum wage and overtime violations.

LOS ANGELES – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced an investigation recovered more than $1 million in back wages and damages — its largest settlement to date for California garment workers — for 165 workers after finding a Los Angeles garment contractor denied them overtime wages illegally and then tried to conceal the wage theft. 

Employer:      2 Poto Inc., operating as Entre Nous French Bistro

                        119 West Green St.

Pasadena, CA 91105

Date of action:                       Sept. 28, 2023            

Date of action:           Dec. 8, 2023

Type of action:          Order granting Department of Labor’s motion to intervene

Court:                         U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York in White Plains, New York

Defendants:               Berkshire Nursery & Supply Corp.

CHICAGO – A joint investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor and the Illinois Office of the Attorney General has recovered $3 million in back wages, damages and interest for 283 workers denied overtime owed under federal and state regulations by an Elk Grove meat processing and packaging plant.

RICHFIELD, MN – The U.S. Department of Labor has filed a lawsuit to recover more than $508,000 in back wages and liquidated damages owed to employees of two Richfield grocery stores whose operators paid them an “artificially” low hourly rate to make it appear the employers paid the proper overtime rate.

FLORENCE, WI – Despite federal regulations barring young workers from operating dangerous machinery, the management of a Wisconsin sawmill allowed several minors workers to perform maintenance on equipment without training or following required safety procedures.

On June 29, 2023, a 16-year-old worker became trapped in a stick stacker machine as he tried to unjam it. The young worker remained trapped until he was found and freed, and then transported to the hospital where he passed away two days later. 

Employer:      Hale Vietnam Inc.

                        1140 12th Ave.