MANCHESTER, NH – The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered $167,101 in back wages for 20 workers for a Keene roofing contractor that paid incorrect wages and improper overtime to foreign temporary workers employed through the federal H-2B nonimmigrant program.

The Wage and Hour Division determined that The Melanson Company, a Tecta America Company LLC improperly classified workers as roofer helpers when, in fact, they were doing roofing work, a violation of the Immigration and Nationality Act’s H-2B provisions. By doing so, the employer failed to pay correct prevailing wages, which led to additional violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act when the Keene contractor calculated overtime wages based on the incorrect wage rate.

The recovery is part of a settlement between the division and The Melanson Company that required the employer to pay $154,596 in H-2B back wages to the workers classified improperly and $12,505 in overtime wages owed to the affected workers. The company also paid $28,829 in H-2B civil money penalties. The department’s Office of Administrative Law Judges entered the settlement as consent findings.

“The Melanson Company’s illegal employment practices shortchanged workers’ wages and gave the company an unfair advantage over their competitors who pay H-2B nonimmigrant workers properly,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Steven McKinney in Manchester, New Hampshire. “The Wage and Hour Division is committed to ensuring H-2B workers receive the wages they are owed and that employers who use the H-2B program employ workers in the job classifications for which they petitioned.”

The H-2B program permits employers to temporarily hire nonimmigrant workers to perform nonagricultural labor or services in the U.S. The division may seek remedies such as wage payments and civil money penalties against employers who violate certain H-2B provisions.

The Melanson Company provides construction services, including roofing, suspended ceilings, drywall and HVAC duct work for customers in southern Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, eastern New York and Vermont.

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. Employers and workers can call division staff confidentially with questions, regardless of immigration status, and 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 free Timesheet App for Android and iOS devices, available in English and Spanish, to help track work hours and pay.

HEALDSBURG, CA – A U.S. Department of Labor investigation has found one of four restaurants owned by popular Sonoma County chef Octavio Diaz willfully denied three workers at its Healdsburg establishment of more than $35,000 in overtime wages.

Investigators with the department’s Wage and Hour Division determined Diaz shortchanged three employees at Agave Mexican Restaurant and Bar by depriving them of overtime pay and paying them instead a flat salary regardless of how many hours they worked. The division also found the employer paid one worker less than minimum wage after once missing payroll and failed to produce all required records, such as employees’ dates of birth, including for those under the age of 16. 

“This Sonoma County restaurant owner has found there are costly consequences for willfully violating federal regulations that protect employees’ rights to be paid fully for their work,” said Wage and Hour Division Assistant District Director Alberto Raymond in Walnut Creek, California. “This employer denied workers thousands of dollars in wages for their hard work, but thanks to this investigation they now will be paid as the law requires.”

To resolve Diaz’s violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act, the division recovered a total of $71,454, representing $35,727 in unpaid wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages, and assessed $11,212 in civil money penalties given the employer’s willful violations.

“We continue to find restaurant industry workers being denied their rightful wages and remain vigilant in rooting out unscrupulous business operators who take advantage of those whose hard work helps restaurants succeed,” Raymond added. “We encourage workers to contact us, even anonymously, if they feel their rights are being violated.” 

In fiscal year 2023, the division recovered more than $29 million in back wages for workers in the food service industry nationwide.

Workers can use the division’s Workers Owed Wages search tool to check 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 (487-9243), regardless of where they are from. The division can speak with callers in more than 200 languages.

Learn more about the Wage and Hour Division, including the agency’s restaurants compliance assistance toolkit and an overview about 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. 

Employer:      El Molino Taqueria 

                             2228 Oak Grove Road

                             Walnut Creek, CA 94598

Investigation findings: A U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division investigation found the owner of Taqueria El Molino in Walnut Creek did not pay overtime to employees for hours over 40 in a workweek, a violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act. The employer willfully paid overtime hours worked at straight-time rates and in cash.

The division learned about this case following a call to the Employment, Education and Outreach helpline operated by Empleo at 877-555-AYUDA (877-555-29832). The organization is an alliance of government agencies, consulates and non-profit organizations dedicated to promoting labor rights awareness among immigrant communities across multiple states.

Back Wages recovered:        $22,866 in overtime and minimum wages for 14 employees

                                                           $22,866 in liquidated damages for 14 employees

Penalties assessed:                 $2,0581 in civil money penalties for the willful nature of the violations.

Quote: “Calls to the Empleo helpline have enabled the U.S. Department of Labor to recover millions in unpaid wages for thousands of workers,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Francisco Ocampo in San Jose, California. “For more than 20 years, the Empleo program has played a vital role helping workers and investigators uncover employers’ labor violations in a many different industries, including the restaurant business, where workers are deprived of their full wages far too often.”

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. 

INDIANAPOLIS – Despite a 2022 federal court judgment requiring him to pay his employees overtime, Tim Paul — owner of eight Indianapolis-area healthcare services companies — continues to use improper pay practices, the U.S. Department of Labor alleges in its request that a federal court hold the employer in contempt for ignoring the 2022 decision.

In addition to the asking the court to hold Paul and his companies — TPS Caregiving LLC, doing business as Comfort Keepers Home Care and Heal at Home LLC — in contempt, the department alleges ongoing overtime violations in its complaint.

Currently, the department’s Wage and Hour Division estimates more than 700 employees of Paul’s companies from April 2020 to date may have been shortchanged by these practices. It’s unclear how many employees have been denied their full wages.

Filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana in Indianapolis on July 10, 2024, the department’s complaint states the division found Tim Paul manipulated regular pay rates of employees who worked more than 40 hours in a workweek to pay them the equivalent of straight-time rates for all hours worked. The complaint alleges Paul’s efforts to avoid paying required overtime wages began the day after the previous investigative period ended. 

“The Department of Labor has asked the U.S. District Court to hold Tim Paul and his companies in contempt for violating the 2022 consent judgment he signed,” explained Regional Solicitor of Labor Christine Heri in Chicago. “When employers violate the FLSA’s pay requirements after resolving a case through a consent judgment, the department will seek to hold them accountable in court.” 

The division examined records at TPS Medical Holdings LLC of Indianapolis, which provides management and payroll services for the other companies and home healthcare agencies, TPS Caregiving LLC – operating as Comfort Keepers Home Care, Heal at Home LLC and TPS Medical Holdings LLC – in Indianapolis, and Healing Hands Home Health LLC and Healing Hands Personal Services Agency LLC in Anderson. 

Investigators also reviewed records at three now closed home health agencies Paul operated. These are Healing Hands Outpatient Therapy and Rehabilitation Center LLC, which operated in Anderson from April 12, 2020 through Dec. 31, 2021; Community Integration Support Services LLC, which operated from April 12, 2020 through June 1, 2021; and Tranquility Nursing and Rehab LLC, which operated from April 12, 2020 through Oct. 15, 2021, in Indianapolis. While the contempt petition only relates to Paul, TPS Caregiving LLC operating as Comfort Keepers Home Care, and Heal at Home LLC, the complaint alleges violations by them and all of the other companies the division examined.

In addition to its request for a contempt finding, the department has asked the court to require Paul and his companies to hire, at their expense, a third-party accountant to calculate the exact back wages due to the extremely large volume of pay records involved. 

Investigators specifically found the employers failed to pay overtime when they did the following:

• Combined hours worked across multiple affiliated companies, as required by the 2022 judgment, but then reduced employees’ hourly pay rate by as much as $2 less per hour, basing the time and one-half overtime premium on the lower rate of pay.
• Had employees sign confusing pay agreements showing they earned more working overtime when, in fact, they earned less than their rightful wages as Paul based overtime on the improperly lowered rate. 
• When Medicare or Medicaid approved more care hours per week for individual clients, the employers lowered the employee’s hourly rate of pay, again to reduce the employers’ overtime expense.

In 2021, the division investigated Comfort Keepers, Heal at Home and Tim Paul for violations from April 30, 2019, through April 11, 2020. The department’s Office of the Solicitor obtained a consent judgment in January 2022 that prohibited future violations.

“The Department of Labor will always fight to protect workers’ rights and hold employers accountable for violating federal law,” explained Wage and Hour Division District Director Aaron Loomis in Indianapolis. “We are determined to recover the wages rightfully earned by the workers employed by Tim Paul and his companies.”

Trial attorneys Haley Jenkins and Adam Lubow are litigating the case on behalf of the department’s Office of the Solicitor.

In fiscal year 2023, the Wage and Hour Division recovered more than $31.7 million in back wages for workers in the healthcare industry nationwide and $192,929 for workers in Indiana. Learn more the division’s resources for healthcare workers.

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 division can speak with callers in more than 200 languages.

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

DOL v. Tim Paul, et. al

Civil Action No. 1:21-CV-02160-SEB-TAB

Employer:      El Compita Mexican Bar and Grill

                            14010 112th Ave., Davenport, IA 52804                         

                            1720 E. Kimberly Road, Davenport, IA 52804         

Investigation findings: An investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division found a Davenport, Iowa restaurant failed to pay cooks overtime at time and one-half their hourly rate of pay, for hours over 40 hours in a workweek.

Investigators found that El Compita Mexican Bar and Grill’s two locations wrongly classified cooks as salary exempt and denied overtime pay. The restaurant also failed to maintain employee timecards as required and did not post posters informing workers of  their wage rights as required by law. 

Resolution: The company paid a total of $48,914, representing $24,457 in back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages for 18 employees. 

Quote: “This restaurant’s practice of paying a set salary to cooks, regardless of hours worked, is a violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act, which requires most workers to be paid overtime for hours over 40 in a workweek,” explained Wage and Hour District Director Marietta Taylor in Des Moines, Iowa. “Recovering these wages allows us to put money back in the pockets of vulnerable workers, who may not know their rights under federal wage laws.”

Background: Learn more about the Wage and Hour Division, the restaurant employment toolkit, 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.

Employer:                             

Chicanos Inc., operating as Chicanos Cocina Bar and Grill

Investigation site:                  

523 E. Main St., Richmond, VA

Findings: The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division found the employer’s pay practices violated federal regulations, including their failure to pay non-exempt kitchen salaried employees an overtime premium for hours over 40 in a workweek. The division also determined Chicano’s Inc. failed to compensate tipped employees at the correct overtime premium for hours over 40 in a workweek. Additionally, the employer also failed to maintain accurate records as required. A total of 21 workers are owed wages and damages.

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.

Back wages and damages recovered:          $86,196 in owed wages/$86,196 in liquidated damages

Quote: “People employed in the restaurant industry are often low-wage workers who depend on every dollar earned, including overtime pay, to help support themselves and their families,” said Wage and Hour District Director Roberto Melendez in Richmond, Virginia. “When employers violate the rights of workers to be paid their full earnings, the U.S. Department of Labor will act to recover the wages illegally withheld.”

Background:  Employers are encouraged to visit our website and learn how to properly record and pay employees for all hours worked. Learn more by reading “What Employers Should Know about Compensable Hours Worked under The Fair Labor Standards Act.”

Workers can use the Wage and Hour Division’s Workers Owed Wages search tool to check if they are owed back wages collected by the division. Employers and workers can contact the division confidentially for help at its toll-free number, 1-866-4-US-WAGE (487-9243), regardless of where they are from. The division can speak with callers in more than 200 languages.

Learn more about the Wage and Hour Division, including the agency’s restaurant compliance assistance toolkit and an overview of 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.

Employer name:                Southern Care Connection LLC, operating as #1 in Homecare

Investigation site:            1539 Jackson Ave., Suite 120

                                                    New Orleans, LA 70130   

Investigation findings: The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division found Southern Care Connection LLC, operating as #1 in Homecare, paid 46 non-exempt employees straight time for overtime for hours over 40 in a workweek, denying these workers the time and one-half overtime premium required by the Fair Labor Standards Act. 

 Back wages recovered:  $55,038 in back wages

                                                     $55,038 in liquidated damages

Quote: “Home care workers often work long hours to provide critical services for those who need help most,” said District Director Troy Mouton in New Orleans. “They should be paid every cent required by law, including time and one-half their regular rate of pay when they work more than 40 hours a week. Failing to do so denies workers of their rightful, hard-earned wages and leaves employers liable for the costly consequences of liquidated damages and possibly penalties.” 

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.

MANCHESTER, NH – A federal investigation has recovered $912,594 for 44 employees of a Londonderry brewery and restaurant that illegally kept workers’ credit card tips and incorrectly exempted several salaried employees, such as brewers, bartenders, cooks and administrative staff from overtime pay requirements.

The recovery of $456,297 in back wages and withheld tips as well as an equal amount in liquidated damages comes after an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division determined that Pipe Dream Brewing LLC violated the Fair Labor Standards Act when it retained tips paid on credit card transactions and denied overtime wages to incorrectly exempted employees for hours worked over 40 in a workweek. The department also assessed $5,148 in civil money penalties for the tip-related violations.

“The U.S. Department of Labor found Pipe Dream Brewing violated federal law that forbids managers, supervisors and employers from participating in tip pools or pocketing any portion of employees’ tips for any purpose,” explained Wage and Hour Division District Director Steven McKinney in Manchester, New Hampshire. “As the case’s outcome shows, denying employees their full legal wages and keeping employees’ tips can have costly consequences for employers.” 

The Wage and Hour Division is currently distributing the monies recovered to the affected workers. Workers who believe they are owed back wages from this investigation are encouraged to use the Wage and Hour Division’s Workers Owed Wages online search tool to claim their back wages.

Learn more about the Wage and Hour Division, including tipped employees’ rights and overtime guidance under the FLSA. 

Workers and employers can also call the division’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243) confidentially with questions, regardless of immigration status. The division can speak with callers in more than 200 languages. Download the agency’s free Timesheet App for Android and iOS devices, available in English and Spanish, to help track work hours and pay.

SAN JOSE, CA – A U.S. Department of Labor investigation found that Intuit — a Silicon Valley-based multinational provider of payroll and financial software applications — deprived more than 2,500 employees of more than $555,000 in overtime pay by not keeping accurate pay records and failing to pay for some work hours, including time spent on required training. 

The department’s Wage and Hour Division determined that Intuit’s failure led the Mountain View-based employer to pay incorrect amounts for overtime worked, a violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act. The company’s violation affected employees across the U.S.

“While employers have no excuse for depriving workers of their full earned wages, including overtime pay, we appreciate that Intuit’s legal team worked with the U.S. Department of Labor to resolve the matter soon after being made aware of our findings,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Francisco Ocampo in San Jose, California. “We encourage employers, large and small, to contact us with questions about workers’ rights or other concerns about their employment practices.” 

In all, the division’s overtime wage recovery will benefit 2,607 Intuit employees.

Intuit operates a publicly traded global financial technology platform and serves about 100 million customers worldwide with products such as TurboTax, Credit Karma, QuickBooks and Mailchimp. The Mountain View company has about 18,000 employees working in 19 offices in eight countries.

The FLSA requires that most employees in the U.S. be paid overtime pay at not less than time and one-half the regular rate of pay for all hours over 40 in a workweek. Learn more about the Wage and Hour Division and workers’ rights, including a search tool to use if you think you may be owed back wages collected by the division.

Employers and workers can call division staff confidentially with questions, regardless of where they are from, and the department can speak with callers confidentially in more than 200 languages through the agency’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Download the agency’s new, free Timesheet App, available in English and Spanish, to help track work hours and pay.

Employer:      JG Adult Family Home LLC

                        1922 28 St. SE 

Auburn, WA 98002

Investigation findings: A U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division investigation found the owners of two Auburn adult care homes did not pay 22 caregivers overtime rates for hours over 40 in a workweek, a violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act. The employer instead paid a daily rate regardless of how many hours employees worked. Investigators also found the employer denied some employees the required federal minimum wage.

Back Wages recovered:        $97,980 in overtime and minimum wages

                                                $97,980 in liquidated damages

Penalties assessed:                 $5,831 in civil money penalties for the willful nature of the violations.

Quote: “Workers in adult family homes provide care to some of our communities’ most vulnerable people,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Thomas Silva in Seattle. “JG Adult Family Home ignored federal laws that protect workers’ wages and benefits. This employer deliberately made it harder for their employees to care for themselves and their families.”

Background: In fiscal year 2023, the division recovered more than $31.8 million in back wages for workers in the healthcare industry nationwide. Learn about wage protections for care workers. 

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.