SAN DIEGO, CA – Since 2021, the U.S. Department of Labor has seen a troubling increase in wage theft by customs brokers and freight-forwarding and logistics companies operating near the Mexican border, a trend reflected in three recent investigations in San Diego that recovered nearly $840,000 for 32 employees, some of whom one employer paid less than $3 per hour.

The department’s Wage and Hour Division determined that Ruffo de Alba Forwarders LP, SAI Logistics Exports Inc. and Moving Technologies of America Inc. willfully and recklessly shortchanged the affected workers and violated numerous provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

“The U.S. Department of Labor is committed to continuing its years-long effort to bring the customs broker, warehouse and logistics industry into compliance with the federal workplace guarantees of minimum wage and overtime,” said Regional Solicitor of Labor Marc Pilotin in San Francisco. “Far too many employees who work in these cross-border operations continue to be cheated out of their lawful wages under U.S. law. The department will do all in its power to protect the rights of all people working in our country.”

Specifically, division investigators found violations by each employer as follows:

• Ruffo de Alba Forwarders LP, a customs broker providing logistic and transportation services, failed to pay at least an hourly minimum wage of $7.25 to workers and denied required overtime pay for hours over 40 in a workweek to employees who traveled from Mexico to the U.S. In some cases, the employer paid workers as little as $3.27 per hour in Mexican pesos. To settle the matter, the department obtained a consent judgment in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California that ordered Ruffo de Alba Forwarders and owner Andres Ruffo to pay 14 workers $222,899 in wages owed and an equal amount in damages totaling $445,798, as well as $8,645 in penalties for their misconduct to the department. The court also ordered the employers to hire an independent third-party to conduct FLSA training annually.
• SAI Logistics Experts Inc., also a broker assisting the cross-border goods transport, denied Mexican workers their required overtime wages and failed to meet federal minimum wage requirements. The employer paid Mexican workers as little as $3.86 per hour in Mexican pesos. A consent judgment entered by the same court ordered SAI and its agents to pay $318,249 in minimum wage, overtime and liquidated damages owed to 13 workers and pay the department $8,645 in penalties. The court also required the company to hire an independent third-party to provide FLSA training at least once a year. 
• Moving Technologies of America Inc., a transportation and distribution subsidiary of Vadeto Group LLC in San Diego, failed to pay five employees federal minimum wages as required, instead paying them in Mexican pesos and some workers as little as $2.77 per hour. Following its investigation, the division recovered $75,132 — representing $37,566 in back wages and an equal amount in damages — for five employees and assessed $3,324 in penalties for its willful and repeated disregard of the law. In 2020, the division recovered $12,225 for four workers after finding MTA denied them required overtime pay. In addition to recovering back wages, the investigation found the following:
  • In attempting to defend the company’s actions, owner Edgar Vargas alleged the workers were “independent contractors” paid by OGEID Formacion Empresarial SA DE CV in Mexico, which investigators learned was another Vadeto Group subsidiary and established a joint-employer relationship between the two companies. 
  • Vargas tried to mask the workers’ employment status by assigning them code numbers to use in place of their names when signing the company’s visitors’ log. 
  • The company allegedly retaliated against Mexican workers who cooperated with investigators by ordering them not to return to work at the facility under investigation, which led the division to issue MTA a letter to cease-and-desist such illegal retaliatory actions. 

Since 2021, the department has recovered more than $5 million in back wages and damages for more than 300 workers employed by customs warehouse, logistics and freight forwarding employers operating in the San Diego area.

“Companies along the U.S. southern border that mistakenly believe they can exploit Mexican nationals by paying illegally low wages should take note of the outcome of these investigations,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Min Park-Chung in San Diego. “To root out employers who abuse and exploit workers for profit, the Wage and Hour Division is working closely with the Consulate General of Mexico in San Diego to educate Mexican nationals in the region about their rights as workers, including the right to report labor violations without fear of threats and intimidation.”

The Consul General of Mexico in San Diego Alicia G. Kerber-Palma urges workers to contact the consulate at 619-231-3847 or email proteccionsdi@sre.gob.mx for additional support, consular protection or legal advice. 

In a related case, the department’s Office of the Solicitor filed a lawsuit against NBG Logistics Alliance Inc. in the Southern District of California on June 21, 2024, after the Wage and Hour Division discovered that the employer ferried employees to a local fast-food restaurant quickly when investigators showed up at an NBG warehouse. The employees were then told to return to Mexico, preventing them from meeting with investigators onsite. The company later fired some of the workers shortly after. The department seeks a preliminary injunction forbidding further retaliation against workers and interference with the investigation. 

The division’s San Diego District Office investigated these cases, and the Office of the Solicitor in San Francisco negotiated the consent judgments on behalf of the department.

The division enforces the law regardless of a worker’s immigration status and can speak confidentially with callers in more than 200 languages. For more information about the FLSA and other laws enforced by the division, contact its toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). 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. Download the agency’s free Timesheet App for Android and iOS devices, available in English and Spanish, to help track work hours and pay.

This news release is also available in Spanish.

NEWBURY, OH – The U.S. Department of Labor has initiated debt collection procedures against a Newbury landscaping company that allegedly threatened workers for cooperating with a federal investigation that found the company and its owner owes $169,015 in back wages and damages to 19 affected workers. 

The action follows a Wage and Hour Division investigation, which identified numerous violations of the H-2B visa program by Hoenigman Landscaping Co. LLC and owner Richard Hoenigman in 2021 and 2022. The division found the employer shorted wages of at least 19 workers by up to $4.05 per hour less than the required prevailing wage. 

The company also violated program regulations by assigning workers to Pennsylvania job sites after its H-2B application certified they would only employ the workers, primarily from Mexico, in the Cleveland area. The H-2B program allows U.S. employers to hire non-immigrant workers temporarily to perform non-agricultural labor or services as specified in its application.

In July 2023, the department banned the company and its owner from H-2B visa program participation for five years after the investigators learned the employers allegedly threatened workers for their cooperation with them. 

“Hoenigman Landscaping continues to ignore communications from federal investigators and refuses to pay these employees the back wages owed for their hard work. Those who believe they can ignore the law and continue to withhold wages and avoid penalties are deeply mistaken, and will be held accountable,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Matthew Utley in Columbus, Ohio. “The H-2B visa program helps employers fill positions with temporary foreign workers after they show they have tried and failed to recruit and hire U.S. workers. In return, they agree to accept detailed, non-negotiable terms such as paying transportation costs, prevailing wages and work locations.”

Investigators calculated Hoenigman Landscaping owed the affected workers $87,653 in back wages and assessed the employer an additional $81,362 in civil money penalties after finding the company’s owner coerced workers to sign statements waiving their right to reimbursement for transportation costs, tried to stop them from talking to investigators and did not notify authorities when one H-2B worker abandoned the job site. 

Federal law required Hoenigman to pay the workers $16.35 per hour in 2021, but the employer paid these workers wages ranging from $11.30-$16 per hour, with most earning $13.75 per hour. In 2022, the employer should have paid workers $17.07 per hour, but most earned $15 per hour and some as little as $13.50 per hour. 

Hoenigman Landscaping violated H-2B program requirements when it committed similar violations for the 2012 and 2013 landscape seasons, the investigation found.

Employment of H-2B workers must be of a temporary nature, such as a one-time occurrence, seasonal need, peak load need or intermittent need. In 2024, about 130,000 H-2B visas are available for employers to participate in the program. 

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 Android and iOS devices in English or Spanish to ensure hours and pay are accurate.

Employer:       Asian Restaurant Group Inc., operating two restaurants as Max’s of Manila in Hawaii

                              1350 Pine St. #6

                               Boulder, CO 80304

Investigation findings: A U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division investigation found the owners of two Max’s of Manila restaurants in Honolulu and Waipahu did not pay kitchen staff required overtime rates for hours over 40 in a workweek, a violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act. The employer paid kitchen employees a fixed salary and excluded them for overtime pay regardless of how many hours they worked. Investigators also found the employer unlawfully allowed a manager to take a portion of tips. Federal law forbids employers or managers from keeping employees’ tips for any purpose.

Back Wages Recovered:       $153,885 in overtime wages for 23 employees

                                                          $153,885 in liquidated damages for 23 employees

                                                          $8,418 in civil money penalties for the reckless nature of the violations

Quote: “Many restaurant employers in Hawaii and elsewhere in the nation continue to shortchange workers and deprive them of their hard-earned wages,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Terence Trotter in Honolulu. “The restaurants failing to pay employees in compliance with the law will pay a hefty price in back wages due plus liquidated damages. We are determined to protect workers and stop these illegal practices.”

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. 

BELMAR, NJ – The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered more than $84,000 in back wages and liquidated damages for 13 workers and assessed $4,459 in penalties after its investigation determined a Jersey Shore steakhouse owner violated federal overtime regulations deliberately.

Investigators with the department’s Wage and Hour Division learned Dariusz Targonski, the owner of Flames Brazilian Steakhouse in Belmar, paid hourly employees straight-time wages for all hours worked, including hours over 40 in a workweek when an overtime rate applied. The division also found that the employer failed to pay non-exempt, salaried employees overtime and did not maintain required payroll records. 

“People employed in the restaurant industry often work long hours to support themselves and their families and they deserve to be paid the wages they’ve earned,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Charlene Rachor in Lawrenceville, New Jersey. “Wage theft is a serious issue and the U.S. Department of Labor is determined to hold industry employers like Dariusz Targonski accountable when they mistakenly believe they can violate workers’ rights and gain an unfair advantage over their competitors.”

The back wages recovered and damages and penalties assessed resolved the employer’s willful violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act. 

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. Workers and employers can call the division confidentially with questions at its toll-free number, 1-866-4-US-WAGE (487-9243), regardless of their immigration status. The department can speak with callers in more than 200 languages. Workers and employers can help ensure hours worked and pay are accurate by downloading the department’s Android and iOS Timesheet App for free, which is available in English and Spanish.

SAN JACINTO, CA – Un juez federal reafirmó la conclusión del Departamento de Trabajo de EE.UU. de que una empresa constructora de Nebraska que operaba en el sur de California discriminó descarada y deliberadamente a trabajadores estadounidenses al traer a EE.UU. trabajadores mexicanos con falsos pretextos, a los que pagó de menos y puso su seguridad y salud en riesgo en condiciones de alojamiento deficientes.  

La Oficina de Jueces de Derecho Administrativo del departamento ordenó a Randy y Kary Christo, propietarios y operadores de R&R Christo Construction LLC de Fremont, pagar $288,719 en salarios a 43 trabajadores agrícolas y $63,813 en multas después de que la División de Horas y Salarios  del departamento confirmara que en su solicitud al programa de visa agrícola H-2A presentaron ordenes de trabajo que tergiversaban deliberadamente los términos al indicar que los trabajadores extranjeros realizarían trabajos agrícolas cuando, en realidad, fueron empleados para trabajos de construcción en una operación avícola de San Jacinto.

El juez encontró que el empleador se benefició al abusar y explotar a los trabajadores H-2A vulnerables e inadvertidos. Al tergiversar la naturaleza del trabajo, el empleador discriminó a trabajadores de construcción estadounidenses. 

“R&R Christo Construction discriminó a los trabajadores de construcción estadounidenses y no cumplió con los requisitos legales para emplear trabajadores agrícolas de fuera de EE.UU.”, dijo Rafael Valles, subdirector distrital de la División de Horas y Salarios en West Covina, California. “El flagrante desprecio de los requisitos y el abuso a decenas de trabajadores vulnerables de México es inexcusable”. 

La división se enteró de la situación después de un referido de Cal/OSHA motivado por una investigación sobre las lesiones sufridas por un trabajador H-2A después de caer de un techo. Los investigadores federales descubrieron que el trabajador lesionado era uno de los muchos empleados de R&R Christo Construction ‘prestados’ ilegalmente a subcontratistas de techado para con ello obtener ganancias adicionales. 

Además de las violaciones H-2A, la división determinó que R&R Christo Construction negó a los empleados salarios por horas extras por trabajo realizado por encima de 40 en una semana laboral. En promedio, los investigadores descubrieron que la mayoría de los empleados de R&R trabajaban hasta 60 horas por semana. Bajo la ley de California, los empleadores deben pagar a los trabajadores de construcción tarifas de sobretiempo por las horas trabajadas más allá de ocho al día y 40 en una semana laboral. Los empleadores no pueden pagar a los trabajadores H-2A menos de lo que exigen todas las leyes aplicables.

Los investigadores también encontraron que Randy y Kary Christo alojaron a los trabajadores en viviendas deficientes a menos de 500 pies de ganado y en condiciones de hacinamiento con hasta 11 camas en una sola habitación. Los empleadores tampoco cumplieron con los requisitos de seguridad H-2A al transportar a los trabajadores en un vehículo con cinturones de seguridad insuficientes e inoperables.

“R&R Christo Construction explotó a los trabajadores deliberadamente y trató de manipular el sistema tergiversando ilegalmente la intención y elementos cruciales del programa de trabajadores agrícolas H-2A”, añadió el procurador regional Marc Pilotin en San Francisco. “Las acciones ilegales de este empleador también negaron oportunidades laborales a los trabajadores de construcción estadounidenses”.

Cualquier trabajador afectado por las acciones ilegales de este empleador debe comunicarse con la División de Horas y Salarios inmediatamente para recibir los salarios recuperados. La división puede hablar con las personas que llaman en más de 200 idiomas, independientemente de su procedencia.

La Oficina distrital de la división en West Covina llevó a cabo la investigación y la Oficina del Procurador del departamento en San Francisco litigó el caso. 

Sepa más sobre la División de Horas y Salarios, incluida una herramienta de búsqueda que puede usar si piensa que le deben salarios recuperados por la división. Para asistencia confidencial, empleadores y empleados pueden llamar a la línea gratuita de ayuda de la agencia al número 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243).

Descargue la nueva app de horas y pagos para dispositivos iOS y Android gratis y disponible en inglés y español para asegurarse que sus horas y pagos son correctos.

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EAST ST. LOUIS, IL – The U.S. Department of Labor has filed a complaint in federal court against two Illinois restaurants — operating as IHOP franchises in O’Fallon and Alton — and their owner after its investigation identified numerous violations, including management telling servers to surrender their tips to a shared tip pool when, in fact, the owner was keeping the tips for the restaurant or sharing them with back-of-the-house employees not eligible to participate in a mandatory tip pool. 

In addition to violating tip pool regulations, the department’s Wage and Hour Division also learned the restaurants and owner, Khalid Ramadan skirted federal law and shortchanged employees’ wages in the followings ways:

• Directing managers to delete entire shifts from time records when workers approached 40 hours in a workweek to avoid paying overtime.
• Frequently failing to pay workers the required minimum wage.
• Paying some employees “straight time” for hours over 40 in a workweek, when overtime was required.
• Using the federal minimum tipped wage of $2.13 per hour instead of the higher Illinois minimum wage when computing servers’ overtime rate — if they paid an overtime premium at all. 

Wage and Hour Division investigators determined R & R Restaurant Group Inc. and 2103 Restaurant Group LLC owe approximately $367,890 — $183,945 in back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages – to 179 employees for the investigation period of March 1, 2020 to Feb. 28, 2022. Owned by Ramadan, the two companies operate the IHOP franchise locations. 

The division also assessed a civil money penalty of $199,577 for the employers’ willful violations. 

“Tips are the property of the employee who earned them and no employer has the right to them. Khalid Ramadan allegedly retained IHOP workers’ tips for his businesses — literally taking money from employees’ pockets — in clear violation of federal wage laws,” explained Wage and Hour Division District Director Noah Lee in St. Louis. “This action and several others that deprived many low-wage workers of their hard-earned earnings led us to assess nearly $200,000 in penalties given the extensive nature of wage theft our investigators found.”

To recover the back wages and damages, hold the employers accountable for their actions and prevent the companies and their owner from committing future violations, the department filed a complaint on June 11, 2024, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois in East St. Louis alleging numerous violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act’s minimum wage, overtime and recordkeeping provisions.

“The Department of Labor will take all necessary action to hold employers accountable for abiding by the law and ensuring workers receive the wages they have rightfully earned,” Lee added.

Founded in 1958 as the International House of Pancakes, IHOP currently has more than 1,800 locations in 50 states, two U.S. territories and 13 other countries. The IHOP franchise system is owned by Dine Brands Global Inc. in Pasadena, California. Through its subsidiaries and franchisees, the company supports and operates restaurants under the Applebee’s Neighborhood Grill + Bar, IHOP and Fuzzy’s Taco Shop brands, consisting of nearly 3,600 restaurants across 18 international markets. IHOP is not named as a defendant in the department’s lawsuit.

The FLSA prohibits employers from keeping any portion of employees’ tips for any purpose, whether directly or through a tip pool. A valid tip pool is limited to employees who customarily and regularly receive tips.

In fiscal year 2023, the Wage and Hour Division recovered more than $29.6 million in back wages for workers in the food service industry nationwide. The division’s restaurant compliance toolkit explains wage laws for employers and workers. 

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. 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.

United States Department of Labor v. R&R Restaurant Group Inc., 2103 Restaurant Group LLC, Khalid Ramadan

Civil Action No. 3:24-cv-01481 

LOUISVILLE, KY – The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a court order requiring one of the nation’s most successful thoroughbred horse trainers to pay $243,260 in back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages after its investigation found the employer’s illegal pay practices denied 163 grooms and hotwalkers at Churchill Downs and at Keeneland racetrack in Lexington of overtime wages.

The recovery is the latest action brought by the department since 2021 against KDE Equine LLC, founded by Steve Asmussen and operating as Asmussen Racing Stables with about 200 horses in five states. This is the fifth time in recent years that investigations by the department’s Wage and Hour Division found the company violated federal labor laws.

In its order, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky affirmed the division’s finding that the horse trainer failed to pay overtime wages to hotwalkers and grooms. Instead of paying overtime as the law requires, Asmussen paid the employees a salary for all the hours that they worked. Employees were occasionally paid extra money for doing additional work, but they were not paid overtime. 

“Several U.S. Department of Labor investigations have found significant violations related to the way KDE Equine pays its employees,” said Regional Solicitor Tremelle Howard in Atlanta. “When we determine that an employer has violated the rights of its workers to be paid their full, legally earned wages, the Department of Labor will not hesitate to use litigation to hold employers like this, who knowingly disregarded their overtime obligations, accountable under the law.”

Specifically, the division determined the employer failed to pay non-exempt employees the additional half-time owed based on their regular rates of pay for hours over 40 in a workweek. Investigators also found KDE failed to keep accurate pay records and allegedly tried to conceal its Fair Labor Standards Act violations by knowingly modifying its records to make it appear the company paid employees by the hour.

“More than 160 grooms and hotwalkers whose work enables Asmussen Racing Stables to be successful will soon have the opportunity to recover the back wages they’re owed and liquidated damages they deserve from an employer that mistakenly thought they could win without playing by the rules,” Howard added.

In August 2023, the Arlington, Texas-based company entered into a settlement agreement to reimburse grooms and hotwalkers $129,776 and pay $75,223 in penalties to resolve violations of the federal H-2B worker program. In September 2021, the division recovered $563,800 in back wages and damages for 170 employees and assessed $46,200 in penalties after finding Asmussen failed to pay proper overtime compensation to employees for hours over 40 hours in a workweek, concealed hours worked by employees, directed employees to sign incomplete or false timesheets and did not calculate employees’ overtime correctly.

KDE Equine operates in Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, New York and Texas and has trained thoroughbreds that have won some of the nation’s most famous races, including the Belmont Stakes and the Preakness.

“Our investigators found that KDE took actions more consistent with trying to hide its violations, rather than complying with federal regulations. These actions included keeping useless, inaccurate timesheets and blaming their failures on employee illiteracy and lack of English fluency,” explained Wage and Hour Division Regional Administrator Juan Coria in Atlanta. “KDE Equine’s actions were a deliberate attempt to deflect the employer’s responsibility to pay their workers as the law requires.” 

The Wage and Hour Division offers confidential compliance assistance to anyone – regardless of where they are from – with questions about how to comply with the law concerning its enforcement of federal minimum wage, overtime pay, recordkeeping and child labor requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act by calling the agency’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). The division can speak with callers in more than 200 languages.

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. Download the agency’s Timesheet App, which is available in English and Spanish for Android and Apple devices, to ensure hours and pay are accurate.

Employers name:            X.M. Investment LLC, Beemer Investments LLC, both operating as Crackin’ Crab

Investigation sites:        4959 Pan American Freeway NE, Suite C, Albuquerque, NM 87114

                                                  2100 Louisiana Blvd. NE, Suite 413, Albuquerque, NM 87114

Investigation findings: The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division found the employers violated federal law by keeping part of the employee’s tips. By doing so, the employer invalidated their tip credit and failed to pay the required minimum wage. The employer also violated the overtime provisions by paying time and one-half the regular rate of pay after 80 hours in a pay period instead of time and one-half of the employees’ hourly wages for hours over 40 in a workweek.

Back wages recovered: $126,818 in owed wages, $126,818 in liquidated damages to 19 workers.

Penalties: An assessment of $616 in civil money penalties for withholding employee tips.                                       

Quote: “Restaurant workers depend on their tips and overtime pay to support themselves and their families,” said Wage and Hour District Director Evelyn Ortiz in Albuquerque, New Mexico. “Tips cannot be kept by the employer under any circumstances. The U.S. Department of Labor remains committed to protecting our nation’s workers.”

Background: Established in 2015, Crackin’ Crab operates casual dining seafood restaurants at four locations in New Mexico in Albuquerque and Sante Fe, and two locations in Amarillo, Texas. 

Date of action:                       May 20, 2024

 Type of action:                      Consent Judgment  

 Names of defendants:           Brookhaven Irrigation Corp., Michael Coggins

 Address:                                 Farmingville, New York

Background:                          After an investigation by the Long Island district office of the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division, the department’s Office of the Solicitor filed suit against Brookhaven Irrigation Corp. and Michael Coggins, operators of a landscaping and lawn sprinkler installation business, alleging they willfully violated the Fair Labor Standards Act’s overtime pay and recordkeeping provisions. Specifically, the department alleged Brookhaven did not pay employees the FLSA-required overtime rate of one and one-half times their regular rate of pay between July 2019 and July 2022, and failed to keep records of employee wages and work hours.

Resolution:                             Under the terms of the consent judgment, the division recovered $120,000 in back wages and liquidated damages from Brookhaven Irrigation Corp. and Coggins for 29 current and former employees, which the division is currently distributing to the affected workers. Brookhaven and Coggins have also paid $10,000 in civil money penalties to the department. 

Court:                                     U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York

Docket Number:                    2:22-cv-03907-AYS

Quotes:                                   “The U.S. Department of Labor will not hesitate to pursue legal action to ensure that all employees are compensated as required by law,” said Regional Solicitor of Labor Jeffrey Rogoff in New York. “This case’s resolution shows employers that not complying with federal wage law can lead to legal action with costly consequences.”

“The violations found here were willful and the penalties significant. However, such violations are preventable if employers know and follow the Fair Labor Standards Act’s pay, recordkeeping and other requirements,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director David An in Westbury, New York. “We encourage Long Island employers to review their practices and contact us with questions.”

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. Workers can call the Wage and Hour Division confidentially with questions – regardless of immigration status – and the department 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 Timesheet App for iOS and Android devices — also available in Spanish — to ensure hours and pay are accurate.

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Employer name:                 LJ2 Investments LLC, operating as Jasso Express

Investigation site:             805 E. Ferguson Ave.

                                                     Pharr, TX 78577

Investigation findings: The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division found LJ2 Investments LLC – operator of Jasso Express food trucks – failed to pay the required time and one-half the hourly wages of 46 catering service workers for hours worked over 40 in a workweek. Additionally, the employer failed to keep records, in violation of federal law. 

 Back wages recovered:  $78,664 in back wages

                                                    $78,664 in liquidated damages

In fiscal year 2023, the division recovered more than $29 million owed to nearly 26,000 food service industry workers. Food service is among the division’s low-wage, high violation industries with the third highest amount of back wages recovered and the second highest amount of civil money penalties assessed.                                        

Quote: “Federal law is very clear about paying overtime and leaves no excuse for an employer to deprive workers of their lawfully earned wages,” said District Director Cynthia Cantu-Flores in McAllen, Texas. “The U.S. Department of Labor remains committed to protecting our nation’s workers and holding employers accountable.”

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