Employer:                              

Swahili Village Bar and Grill,  2 Center St., Newark, NJ  07102

Investigation findings: A U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division investigation found that Swahili Village Bar and Grill in Newark, New Jersey willfully failed to pay 84 servers, cooks and bussers overtime pay when they worked more than 40 hours in a workweek, in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act. 

Back Wages Recovered:                   $62,335 in overtime wages for 84 employees 

Liquidated Damages Recovered:    $62,335 in liquidated damages for 84 employees

Civil Money Penalties Assessed:      $44,100 in civil money penalties for willful violations

Quote: “Restaurant industry workers too often fall victim to employers who shortchange their wages and deprive them of their hard-earned wages,” said Wage and Hour District Director Paula Ruffin in Mountainside, New Jersey. “When the pay practices of employers like Swahili Village Bar and Grill violate federal law, we will hold them accountable and do all we can to recover the wages owed to employees.” 

Workers can use the division’s Workers Owed Wages search tool to see if they are owed back wages collected by the division. Employers and workers can contact the Wage and Hour Division for assistance at its toll-free number, 1-866-4-US-WAGE. Learn more about the Wage and Hour Division, including the agency’s restaurants compliance assistance toolkit and an overview about the FLSA protections for restaurant workers. Workers and employers alike can help ensure hours worked and pay are accurate by downloading the department’s Android and iOS Timesheet App for free in English or Spanish.

EVANSVILLE, IN – The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a consent order and judgment in which an Evansville diner owner and his restaurant  will pay $390,000 in back wages and liquidated damages to 44 employees to resolve litigation brought after the department’s investigation found the restaurant operated an invalid top pool, denied workers overtime pay and retaliated against employees who cooperated with investigators. 

The order by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana on Aug. 20, 2024, also requires Friendship Diner LLC and owner, Bardhyl Shabani, to pay $10,000 in civil money penalties for the repeated and willful nature of its violations and forbids the employers from all future violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

“The court order should remind all employers that every employee has the right to cooperate with federal investigators or to question their employers’ pay practices without fear of harassment or retaliation,” explained Regional Solicitor Christine Heri in Chicago. “The Department of Labor will continue to hold employers who violate workers’ rights accountable for their wrongful actions and take steps to prevent future violations.”

In addition to the payment of back wages, damages and penalties, the order requires Friendship Diner and Shabani to post and display the court judgment in the restaurant along with contact information for the local Wage and Hour Division office and provide employees with a copy of the Handy Reference Guide to the Fair Labor Standards Act. Shabani must also attend an upcoming Southern Indiana outreach event on wage laws. 

On Feb. 28, 2024, the department filed a complaint in federal court seeking back wages and liquidated damages for 44 workers employed by Friendship Diner LLC after the employers failed to resolve the findings of the Wage and Hour Division’s investigation. Specifically, the division determined the following:

• The diner operated an illegal tip-sharing pool by requiring servers to return $10 in tips for each weekday shift and $15 in tips for each weekend shift to management. The employers either kept the tips or used them to pay bussers’ hourly wages. By misusing these tips, the employers invalidated their tip credit.
• Shabani failed to pay overtime at time and one-half the regular rate-of-pay for hours over 40 in a workweek, did not pay workers the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour and failed to keep accurate payroll records as required.

“The court order will return these wages to the people who rightfully earned them,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Aaron Loomis in Indianapolis. “Any worker with questions about the wages they’re due should contact the Department of Labor for assistance and clarification.”

On March 6, 2024, the department filed a request for a restraining order and injunction after learning Shabani was harassing and threatening employees in an attempt to coerce them into giving false statements to investigators about the mandatory nature of the diner’s tip pool, an FLSA violation. In response, the court forbid the employers from any form of harassment, intimidation or retaliation against employees on May 13, 2024.

Attorney Haley R. Jenkins in the department’s Regional Office of the Solicitor in Chicago is litigating the case.

Learn more about the Wage and Hour Division, including a search tool to use if you think you may be owed back wages collected by the division.

For more information about the FLSA and other laws that prohibit retaliation, contact the division’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Workers and employers can call the division confidentially with questions, and the division can speak with callers in more than 200 languages, regardless of where a caller is from. Download the agency’s new Timesheet App, which is available in English and Spanish for Android and Apple devices, to ensure hours and pay are accurate.

U.S. Department of Labor v. Friendship Diner LLC, Bardhyl Shabani

WILKES-BARRE, PA – The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a consent judgment to recover $1.3 million in back wages, withheld tips and liquidated damages for 51 workers employed by a Wilkes-Barre restaurant and its owner, whose pay practices illegally deprived workers of their full wages. 

Entered in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, the judgment follows an investigation by the department’s Wage and Hour Division and lengthy litigation by the department’s Office of the Solicitor, that found several violations of federal wage regulations by La Tolteca Wilkes-Barre Inc., operator of La Tolteca Authentic Mexican Restaurant, and owner Carlos De Leon. 

The division found the employers violated the Fair Labor Standards Act by requiring servers and bartenders to surrender a percentage of their tips, based on their total sales, to the restaurant at each shift’s end, instead of contributing them to a valid tip pool. The employers failed to keep records of how the tips were used, making them unable to prove the restaurant’s tip pool was valid. Investigators also determined the employers did not pay three non-exempt salaried cooks overtime wages for hours over 40 in a workweek, as the law requires.  Before entering the consent judgment, the court agreed with these findings in granting the department’s motion for summary judgment. 

“Customer tips for good service are the property of the people who earned them, not their employers,” said Wage and Hour Administrator Jessica Looman. “Misuse of all or any portion of tips by management violates workers’ rights. This is a common concern in the restaurant industry and the U.S. Department of Labor remains committed to ensuring all workers are paid all of their rightful wages and that businesses do not gain an unfair advantage over competitors that abide by the law.”

The judgment requires the restaurant and De Leon to pay the affected workers $651,778 in back wages and restored tips, plus an equal amount in liquidated damages. The employer will also pay a $26,443 civil money penalty, due to the willful nature of the violations. The consent judgment permanently forbids the employers from future FLSA violations.

“The outcome of this investigation and litigation shows restaurant industry employers that illegally tampering with their workers’ wages and tips violates their rights and can have costly consequences,” said Solicitor of Labor Seema Nanda. “The U.S. Department of Labor will use every tool available, including litigation, to prevent employers from depriving workers of their wages.”

The Wage and Hour Division’s Wilkes-Barre District Office conducted the investigation. The regional Office of the Solicitor in Philadelphia litigated the case.

The division is currently distributing monies owed to workers covered by this investigation. Current and former employees who believe they are owed wages are encouraged to use the division’s Workers Owed Wages online search tool to claim their back wages or to contact the division’s Wilkes-Barre District Office at (570) 826-6316 if they have questions.

The FLSA requires that most employees in the U.S. be paid at least the federal minimum wage for all hours worked and overtime pay at not less than time and one-half the regular rate of pay for all hours worked over 40 in a workweek.

Learn more about the Wage and Hour Division and workers’ rights, including a restaurant compliance assistance toolkit and a search tool to use if you think you may be owed back wages collected by the division.

Employers and workers can call the division confidentially with questions, regardless of their immigration status. The division can speak with callers in more than 200 languages through the agency’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Download the agency’s new Timesheet App for Android and iOS devices, available in English and Spanish, to ensure hours and pay are accurate.

COLUMBIA, SC – The U.S. Department of Labor is encouraging employers and stakeholders in South 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.

The Davis-Bacon and Related Acts require the department to set the prevailing wage rates that reflect the actual wages and fringe benefits paid to construction workers in the county where the work occurs. 

This survey requests information about wages paid by employers on highway construction projects in South Carolina where construction occurred from Sept. 9, 2023, to Dec. 9, 2024. Not limited to federally funded construction projects, survey findings are critical to the publication of prevailing wage and fringe benefit rates that reflect the rates paid accurately in the area being surveyed. Complete determinations also reduce the number of contractors requesting additional labor classifications. The department encourages all industry employers and stakeholders to participate.

The division will send notification letters to interested parties and contractors known to the agency that will direct them to the website where they can complete the survey. To be included, please complete and submit the online survey by Dec. 9, 2024. Online completion of the survey is strongly encouraged. 

Participants may also submit the information by mail but must first contact the division at (866) 236-2773 and request a form be mailed to them. Learn more about the surveys. 

If you have questions about the survey process and forms, please contact the Davis-Bacon Survey Center at (866) 236-2773 or Davisbaconinfo@dol.gov. 

People interested in getting more information about this survey may attend one of two free, online briefings that will describe the survey process and offer instructions for completing the survey. These briefings will be held on Sept. 10, 2024, and Sept. 12, 2024. Register to attend an upcoming briefing. 

Employer name:             Turf Paradise Inc.

Investigation site:           41 3rd Ave. 

                                                  Longmont, CO 80501 

Investigation findings: The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division found Turf Paradise Inc. failed to pay overtime to 56 workers when the Longmont snow removal and landscaping company improperly claimed an exemption for seasonal recreational and amusement workers. The employer paid the affected workers their base rate when they should have paid time and one-half their regular rate-of-pay for hours over 40 in a workweek, a violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

 Back wages recovered:  $66,316 in back wages

Damages recovered:        $66,316 in liquidated damages                       

Quote: “Employers must comply with federal law and pay workers the overtime wages they are rightfully owed,” said Wage and Hour District Director David Skinner in Denver. “Employers have the obligation of understanding what the law requires. If you need help with any of the laws, please call the Wage and Hour Division.”

Learn more about the Wage and Hour Division, including a search tool to use if you think you may be owed back wages collected by the division and how to file an online complaint. For confidential compliance assistance, employees and employers can call the agency’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243), regardless of where they are from.

Download the agency’s new Timesheet App for iOS and Android devices – also available in Spanish – to ensure hours and pay are accurate.

Employers:    Lasting Love Homecare LLC

                             1906 E. Broadway Ave.

                              Bismarck, ND

Action:           Wage and Hour Division investigation 

Action:  The Department of Labor has recovered $73,680 in overtime wages for 76 employees of Lasting Love Homecare LLC after an investigation by the department’s Wage and Hour Division found the Bismarck employer incorrectly claimed an exemption in North Dakota state administrative code and violated federal overtime regulations for overtime. The home care provider also incurred recordkeeping violations. 

Investigators found Lasting Love Homecare paid straight time for overtime hours worked to 76 non-exempt employees. The employer wrongly understood state law related to overtime exemptions for domestic service workers and failed to recognize that, as third-party employers, they are ineligible to claim the exemption. The division determined the affected workers were owed time and one-half their hourly rate-of-pay for hours over 40 in a workweek. 

Quote: “Home care workers play a vital role in assisting older adults and individuals with disabilities to maintain their independence and engage with their communities. In return, their employers must pay these workers all of their hard-earned wages, including overtime when required.” said Wage and Hour District Director David Skinner in Denver. “We encourage employers to review their pay practices and to contact the Wage and Division to avoid compliance issues and their sometimes-costly consequences.”

Background: In fiscal year 2023, the Wage and Hour Division recovered more than $31.8 million in back wages for workers in the healthcare industry nationwide.

The Wage and Hour Division offers resources for healthcare workers on its website.

Learn more about the Wage and Hour Division, a search tool to use if you think you may be owed back wages collected by the division and how to file an online complaint. For confidential compliance assistance, employees and employers can call the agency’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243), regardless of where they are from.

Download the agency’s new Timesheet App for iOS and Android devices – also available in Spanish –to ensure hours and pay are accurate.

Date of action:           July 18, 2024

Type of action:          Administrative Review Board decision, order

Employer names:      Shalimar Distributors LLC, operating as Promised Land Truck Stop

TAFS Corp., operating as Whistle Stop gas station

Mohammad Tahir, owner and manager

Addresses:                  

Shalimar Distributors LLC ,  624 Route 390, Tafton, PA 18646

TAFS Corp. ,  1405 PA 507, Greentown, PA 18426

Background:              

An investigation by the department’s Wage and Hour Division determined that, from 2015 to 2018, Mohammed Tahir failed to pay 65 employees at two of his businesses minimum wage and overtime as required by the Fair Labor Standards Act. Investigators found $42,265 in back wages owed to 47 Promised Land Truck Stop workers and $17,425 in back wages owed to 18 Whistle Stop employees, plus equal amounts in liquidated damages. The division also assessed $45,722 in civil money penalties against the employer for the employer’s willful violations. 

 After the employer refused to resolve the violations, the department’s Office of the Solicitor filed a complaint in August 2018 against both companies and Tahir. In its July 2020 summary judgment, the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania affirmed that the employer violated the law and owed the amounts the department sought.

In February 2021, the employer appealed the civil money penalties to the Office of Administrative Law Judges, which reduced the penalty to $13,800 in its October 2022 decision and order. In March 2023, the department filed a Petition for Review of the Decision and Order with the Administrative Review Board to appeal the OALJ decision. 

Resolution:                 

On July 18, 2024, the ARB issued a decision and order that reversed the OALJ decision and required the employer to pay the $45,722 civil money penalties first assessed.

Quotes:                      

 “The Wage and Hour Division assessed the civil money penalties against the employer due to their willful disregard of the law, and the Administrative Review Board affirmed our original assessment,” explained Wage and Hour Division District Director Jo-Ann Gregory in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. 

 “The outcome in this case shows that the U.S. Department of Labor will use all necessary litigation tools to hold employers accountable when they deny workers their hard-earned wages and try to avoid the costly consequences,” explained Regional Solicitor of Labor Samantha Thomas in Philadelphia.

GRAND RAPIDS, MI – As Michigan’s harvest season swings into high gear, the U.S. Department of Labor wants to remind employers of their responsibilities and seasonal workers of their rights under federal law. 

Every summer and fall, Michigan’s vast fields are filled with agricultural workers hand harvesting the state’s seasonal bounty of crops. Many of those workers come to the U.S. to work for farmers under the federal H-2A temporary visa program. 

The H-2A program allows agricultural employers anticipating a shortage of domestic workers to bring nonimmigrant foreign workers to the U.S. to perform agricultural labor or services of a temporary or seasonal nature. Michigan is among the top 10 states with employers that regularly hire workers under this program. The state has about 870 licensed housing sites that accommodate about 23,000 temporary workers.

The department’s Wage and Hour Division is conducting outreach with advocates and workers throughout the harvest season to educate them on federal laws – including the revised H-2A farmworker protection final rule, the Fair Labor Standards Act, and the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act – that set standards for safe and clean housing, transportation and fair wages. 

“Our outreach is putting a spotlight on key protections for H-2A farm workers including written contracts, free and safe transportation, safe housing and promised wages,” explained Wage and Hour District Director Mary O’Rourke in Grand Rapids, Michigan. “One of the most common violations we find involves employers failing to pay the H-2A Adverse Effect Wage Rate, which is $18.50 per hour in Michigan in 2024, because they pay workers on a piece-rate basis and don’t ensure workers get paid at least the required rate for all hours worked.” 

Key protections for H-2A workers include:

• Payment for all recruitment and visa costs.
• Reimbursement for the trip to the job site and payment for the return trip to their home country.
• Free and safe housing, and a sanitary kitchen to prepare meals if meals are not provided.
• Free and safe daily transportation with working safety restraints.
• The opportunity to work at least three-fourths of the hours agreed upon in their contract.
• The right to file a complaint or participate in an investigation without fear of retaliation.

“Employers agree to these key protections when they apply to the Department of Labor to hire temporary visa workers,” added Wage and Hour District Director Timolin Mitchell in Detroit. “Approval of their applications comes with a tacit acknowledgment that they will pay these workers a fair wage and treat them with the respect and dignity that all workers deserve. Employers with questions about wage laws should reach out to our compliance experts for assistance.”

The department’s revised H-2A farmworker protection final rule, which went into effect on June 28, 2024, adds further protections for temporary migrant workers from labor exploitation and human trafficking as well as additional safety requirements.

“All too often we find vulnerable workers – like those in the country for seasonal work – fear coming forward when they experience unsafe working conditions, unsanitary housing or short paychecks,” O’Rourke added. “The goal of our outreach is to make sure these workers are fully aware of the resources available to them if they have questions or concerns. These resources include nine local migrant resource councils in Michigan, the Consulate of Mexico in Detroit and the U.S. Department of Labor.”

View the department’s Agriculture Compliance Assistance Toolkit. 

Migrantworker.gov offers resources for workers on how to access support and information from recruitment to conditions of work and a safe return to their home country.

Learn more about the Wage and Hour Division, including a search tool to use if you think you may be owed back wages collected by the division and how to file an online complaint. For confidential compliance assistance, employees and employers can call the agency’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243), regardless of where they are from. The department can speak with callers in more than 200 languages.

Download the agency’s new Timesheet App for free on iOS and Android devices in English or Spanish to ensure hours and pay are accurate.

Date of action:           June 28, 2024

Type of action:          Consent judgment

Employer name:       Ikaros Gourmet Co., operating as Simon’s Food Concessions

Address:                        1412 Chelton Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 15226

Allegations:               Prompted by the findings of an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division, the department’s Office of the Solicitor filed suit in September 2023 against Ikaros Gourmet Co., a food stand operating as Simon’s Food Concessions, citing numerous violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act. 

The division determined that the company failed to pay overtime wages to six employees for hours over 40 in a workweek; instead paying straight-time wages for all hours worked. The employer also failed to keep accurate records of total hours worked.

Investigators also learned the employer allegedly threatened workers it believed cooperated with them, including a worker with an H-2B visa who the company attempted to send home before their contract ended.

In September 2023, the department obtained a temporary restraining order to stop the employer’s retaliation and interference with the division’s investigation.

Resolution:                In June 2024, the department obtained a consent judgment ordering the employer to pay $5,073 in back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages for six workers. The judgment also required Ikaros to pay one worker an additional $4,853 in back wages, liquidated damages, compensatory and punitive damages for the retaliation violations.

Court:                        U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania

Quote:                        “Federal law protects workers’ rights to participate in investigations into a company’s pay practices and prevents employers from retaliating or intimidating those who do,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director John DuMont in Pittsburgh. 

                                        “We are committed to protecting workers’ rights to approach the Department of Labor to provide information regarding harmful employment practices,” said Regional Solicitor of Labor Samantha Thomas in Philadelphia. “We will use all available tools to prevent and stop retaliation against workers.”

Background:             Based in Pittsburgh, Simon’s Food Concessions has specialized in catering and food concessions at public events in Pennsylvania and nearby states since 1976.

Learn more about the Wage and Hour Division.

Employers:                Old Woodward Ventures LLC, operating as Luxe Bar & Grill

                                         Kara Bongiovanni

                                        Grand Lux Café, Troy, Michigan                                

Court Action:            Consent judgment and order

Court:                         U.S. District Court Eastern District of Michigan, Southern Division

Investigation findings: An investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division recovered $45,428 ‒ representing $22,714 in back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages ‒ for 11 servers employed by Kara Bongiovanni and Old Woodward Ventures LLC, operators of Luxe Bar & Grill in Troy. Luxe Bar & Grill and Bongiovanni will also pay $4,570 in civil money penalties for violations of Fair Labor Standards Act’s overtime and recordkeeping provisions. 

Under terms of a consent order and judgment entered on August 8, 2024, by U.S. District Judge George Carem Steeh, the restaurant and owner Kara Bongiovanni must in the future provide relevant FLSA fact sheets to employees and not violate the FLSA. 

Investigators found Luxe Bar & Grill and Bongiovanni paid servers straight time for overtime “off the books” in cash and did not maintain accurate payroll records. 

In addition to paying the back wages, liquidated damages, and civil money penalties, Luxe Bar & Grill and Bongiovanni agreed to maintain an electronic time and recordkeeping system and maintain accurate payroll records.

Quotes: “When employers knowingly shortchange workers of their rightfully earned wages, such as overtime, they literally take money out of the pockets of their employees,” explained Wage and Hour District Director Timolin Mitchell in Detroit. “Luxe Bar & Grill’s practice of recording the hours and paying them off the books demonstrated they knew the law and chose to ignore it.”

“Employers should know that the department will use all available tools to ensure compliance with the FLSA,” added Regional Solicitor Christine Heri in Chicago. “When employers pay their workers less than the required wage, they will be held accountable—even if they try to hide it by making those payments off the record.” 

Background: Learn more about the Wage and Hour Division, including a search tool to use if you think you may be owed back wages collected by the division and how to file an online complaint. For confidential compliance assistance, employees and employers can call the agency’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243), regardless of where they are from.

Learn more about compliance assistance for restaurant workers.

Download the agency’s new Timesheet App for iOS and Android devices – also available in Spanish – to ensure hours and pay are accurate. 

Julie A. Su, Acting Secretary of Labor, United States Department of Labor v. Old Woodward Ventures LLC, d/b/a Luxe Bar & Grill and Kara Bongiovanni

Civil Action No. 2:23-cv-11484