STERLING HEIGHTS, MI – After an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division (WHD), Integrated Living Inc. – based in Sterling Heights, Michigan – will pay $173,787 in back wages and liquidated damages to 52 current and former employees for violations of the overtime requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) at the Michigan residential care facility.

Investigators determined the company paid its hourly home managers a reduced rate when they worked more than 50 hours in a workweek. Managers received their normal hourly rates for all the hours they worked up to 50 per week, but then received a lower rate for any additional hours. This resulted in the managers receiving overtime rates lower than those required by law for the hours they worked.

"Employers have an obligation to understand and to comply with the labor laws applicable to their businesses," said Wage and Hour Division District Director Timolin Mitchell, in Detroit. "Arbitrarily lowering employees' pay after they reach a specified number of hours shorts the workers and creates an unfair advantage for the employer over those who comply with the law. The Wage and Hour Division encourages employers to reach out to us for assistance to ensure they understand their obligations, and to make use of the many tools we provide to help them."

Employers who discover overtime or minimum wage violations may self-report and resolve those violations without litigation through the PAID program. For more information about the FLSA and other federal labor laws, call the Division's toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Information also is available at http://www.dol.gov/whd, including a search tool to use if you think you may be owed back wages collected by the Division.

LAVERGNE, TN – Smart Circle Construction Services – based in La Vergne, Tennessee – will pay $246,813 in back wages and liquidated damages to 17 employees after a U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division (WHD) investigation found the employer violated overtime and recordkeeping provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

WHD investigators determined the construction company violated the FLSA's overtime requirements when it inaccurately classified some employees as independent contractors, paying them straight time rates for all the hours that they worked, including hours they worked beyond 40 per workweek.

"It is critical for employers to understand their obligations and responsibilities under the law," said Wage and Hour Division District Director Nettie Lewis, in Nashville, Tennessee. "Simply because a pay practice may appear to be common in a particular industry does not in any way mean that it complies with the law. The U.S. Department of Labor encourages all employers to make use of the many resources Wage and Hour Division offers to understand their responsibilities and how to avoid violations."

For more information about the FLSA and other laws enforced by the Wage and Hour Division, contact the toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Employers who discover overtime or minimum wage violations may self-report and resolve those violations without litigation through the PAID program. Information is also available at https://www.dol.gov/whd.

SAN DIEGO, CA – After a U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division (WHD) investigation, Sam Woo – a restaurant based in San Diego, California – will pay 18 employees $192,622 in back wages and liquidated damages for violating provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

WHD investigators discovered that Sam Woo paid cooks on a salary basis regardless of the number of hours they actually worked. This practice resulted in overtime violations when those employees worked more than 40 hours in a week and were not paid overtime. Sam Woo also paid servers and food prep workers straight time for their overtime hours. The employer kept two sets of time cards – one for the first 40 hours of work, paid by check, and the second for any additional hours, paid in cash, to hide that employees worked overtime.

“Employers must pay employees the wages they have legally earned for all the hours they have worked,” said Rodolfo Cortez, Wage and Hour Division District Director in San Diego. “Other employers should use the resolution of this case as an opportunity to review their own pay practices to ensure that they are paying workers in compliance. We remain committed to educating employers and employees about their rights and responsibilities so that violations can be avoided, and that employers compete on a level playing field.”

Employers who discover overtime or minimum wage violations may self-report and resolve those violations without litigation through the PAID program.  For more information about the FLSA and other laws enforced by the Wage and Hour Division, contact the Division’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE(487-9243). Information is also available at https://www.dol.gov/whd including a search tool to use if you think you may be owed back wages collected by the Division.

HERMITAGE, TN – Vazquez Drywall has paid $103,300 in back wages and liquidated damages to eight employees after a U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division (WHD) investigation found the company violated overtime and recordkeeping requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). WHD also assessed the Hermitage, Tennessee, company a $2,424 civil penalty.

WHD investigators determined Vazquez Drywall violated the FLSA's overtime requirements when it inaccurately classified employees as independent contractors, and paid them piece rates or flat salaries regardless of the number of hours they worked. This practice resulted in violations when these employees worked more than 40 hours in a week, but the employer did not pay them overtime. The Division also found the employer failed to keep accurate payroll records for these workers.

"Employers are obligated to pay their employees the wages they have legally earned," said Wage and Hour Division District Director Nettie Lewis, in Nashville, Tennessee. "Even if employees are paid piece rates, or on salaries, they are typically still due overtime when they work more than 40 hours in a week. The outcome of this investigation serves as a reminder to all employers to review their pay practices to confirm that employees are being paid as the law requires."

For more information about the FLSA and other laws enforced by the Wage and Hour Division, contact the toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Employers who discover overtime or minimum wage violations may self-report and resolve those violations without litigation through the PAID program. Information is also available at https://www.dol.gov/whd.

ATLANTA, GA - The U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division (WHD) will present an educational forum about developments in its policies and regulations, and its Payroll Audit Independent Determination (PAID) Program, in Alpharetta, Georgia, on October 24, 2018.

PAID facilitates resolution of potential overtime and minimum wage violations under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The program's primary objectives are to resolve such claims quickly and to improve employers' compliance with overtime and minimum wage obligations, and to ensure that more employees receive the back wages they are owed.

WHAT: Wage and Hour Division Educational Forum on PAID Program

WHEN: October 24, 2018
1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. EDT

WHERE: Alpharetta Public Library Auditorium
10 Park Plaza
Alpharetta, GA 30009

The forum will include members of the Division's Washington, D.C., office and regional staff. Attendance is free, but pre-registration is required. Complete advance registration here.

For more information about the PAID program, visit www.dol.gov/whd/PAID, or call 866-4US-WAGE.

For more information about this event, contact Rachel Mast-Matos at mast-matos.rachel@dol.gov or call 678-237-0540.

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced the launch of the New and Small Business Assistance and the Compliance Assistance Toolkits webpages. These new online tools assist American small businesses and workers with simple, straightforward resources that provide critical Wage and Hour Division (WHD) information, as well as links to other resources.

The webpages were established in response to feedback received from new and small business stakeholders voicing their need for a centralized location to secure the tools and information they need to comply with federal labor laws. These new webpages provide the most relevant publications and answer the questions most frequently asked by new and small business owners. These tools, in conjunction with worker.gov and employer.gov, ensure greater understanding of federal requirements and provide tools to help employers find resources offered by other regulatory agencies.

“The Wage and Hour Division has long understood that the majority of employers want to do the right thing and comply with the law, but they need to know how,” said the Wage and Hour Division’s Acting Administrator Bryan Jarrett. “These new webpages demonstrate our ongoing commitment to proactively help employers comply with the law and provide them the tools they need to understand their responsibilities. We encourage all employers to visit these new webpages and reach out to us for assistance at any time.”

In addition to these new resources, WHD recently made available compliance assistance videos that provide  brief, plain-language explanations of the Fair Labor Standards Act’s (FLSA) requirements and protections. The videos provide essential information employers need to understand their obligations under the law.

The Office of Compliance Initiatives (OCI)- housed within the Department’s Office of the Assistant Secretary of Policy - fosters a compliance assistance culture within the Department designed to complement its ongoing enforcement efforts. In August 2018, OCI launched a revamped worker.gov to provide information about workers’ rights and an all-new employer.gov to provide information about the responsibilities of job creators toward their workers.

For more information about the FLSA and other laws enforced by the Wage and Hour Division, contact the Division’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE(487-9243). Information is also available at https://www.dol.gov/whd including a search tool to use if you think you may be owed back wages collected by the Division.

SILVER SPRING, Md - The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Maryland has approved a global settlement that allows the U.S. Department of Labor to recover $7,968,744 in back wages, fringe benefits and 401(k) plan assets for more than 2,000 security guards formerly employed by USProtect Corp., a defunct Silver Spring company that provided security services for federal buildings across the country. The decision resolves the Labor Department's actions against the company related to violations of the McNamara O'Hara Service Contract Act and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

Investigations were conducted by the department's Wage and Hour Division and its Employee Benefits Security Administration when the company could not meet its payroll. Investigators found that the company failed to pay hundreds of employees for their last 2 1/2 weeks of work, and many employees were not paid the prevailing wage for their geographic areas or fringe benefits. The company also failed to remit employee salary deferral contributions to their 401(k) plan accounts.

The settlement between the federal government and a bankruptcy trustee allows for a total recovery of $7,968,744, of which $6,951,977 was recovered for the employees' wages and cash fringe benefits. The remaining $1,016,767 was recovered for the employees' 401(k) accounts.

"I am very pleased that former USProtect employees will receive the back wages, fringe benefits and retirement assets they earned and are owed," said Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis. "This settlement represents a remarkable recovery for a bankruptcy proceeding and is due to the coordinated effort of the Department of Labor's agencies, Department of Justice attorneys, the bankruptcy trustee and various federal contracting agencies."

USProtect Corp. was contracted to provide security services for the Social Security Administration, the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Army, the U.S. Air Force, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency for the District of Columbia, the Naval Facilities Engineering Command and the District of Columbia Superior Court. Contracts covered services provided in California, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas and the Virgin Islands.

The McNamara-O'Hara Service Contract Act requires contractors and subcontractors performing on federal service contracts in excess of $2,500 to pay service employees no less than the wage rates and fringe benefits found prevailing in the locality for the classification of work that they perform.

The investigations were conducted by the Baltimore District Office of the Wage and Hour Division and the Washington District Office of the Employee Benefits Security Administration. The bankruptcy matter was handled by the Justice Department working in cooperation with attorneys from the Labor Department's Regional Office of the Solicitor in Arlington, Va.

For more information about pay and benefit laws for contractors and other wage laws, call the Wage and Hour Division's toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Information also is available on the Internet at http://www.dol.gov/whd/. For help with problems relating to private sector pension and health plans, contact EBSA toll-free at 866-444-3272. Additional information can be found at http://www.dol.gov/ebsa/.

MILWAUKEE, WI – To ensure compliance with federal wage laws, the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division (WHD) is conducting an education and enforcement initiative focusing on restaurants in Wisconsin's Fox Cities region and Milwaukee's East Side neighborhoods. The initiative includes providing compliance assistance tools and information to employers and industry stakeholders through educational outreach events.

WHD's outreach efforts include working directly with a wide variety of organizations in the selected areas to identify multiple ways to provide employers with the tools and information needed to comply with the law. WHD is engaged with employer organizations, community organizations, and other government agencies to ensure a wide distribution of information describing requirements under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

"This initiative raises awareness among employers, employees, community organizations, and others regarding federal wage and hour laws," said Wage and Hour District Director David King, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. "Our ultimate goal is to increase industry-wide compliance. With more than 200,000 people employed in food-service jobs in Wisconsin, the Wage and Hour Division wants to make sure everyone knows and follows the rules."

The initiative will focus on the cities of Oshkosh, Neenah, Menasha, Appleton, Little Chute, and Kaukauna as well as Milwaukee's East Side neighborhoods.

WHD hospitality investigations conducted in the last three fiscal years found common violations that include employing servers to work only for tips; paying servers overtime at one-and-half times their direct cash wage rather than the full federal minimum wage; pooling tips illegally; misclassifying employees as independent contractors and then failing to pay them minimum wage and overtime; and failing to combine hours employees worked at multiple locations when determining when overtime is due.

The FLSA requires that covered, nonexempt employees be paid at least the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour for all hours worked, plus time-and-one-half their regular rates for hours worked beyond 40 per week. An employer of a tipped employee is required to pay no less than $2.13 an hour in direct wages, provided that amount plus tips received equals at least the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. If an employee's tips - combined with the employer's direct wages - do not equal the minimum wage, the employer must make up the difference. Employers also are required to provide employees notice of the FLSA tip credit provisions and to maintain accurate time and payroll records.

The Office of Compliance Initiatives (OCI) - housed within the Department's Office of the Assistant Secretary of Policy - fosters a compliance assistance culture within the Department designed to complement its ongoing enforcement efforts. In August 2018, OCI launched a revamped Worker.gov to provide information about workers' rights and an all-new Employer.gov to provide information about the responsibilities of job creators toward their workers.

For more information about the FLSA and other federal labor laws, call the division's toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Information also is available at https://www.dol.gov/whd.

INDIANAPOLIS, IN – A total of 101 current and former employees of Luciana's Mexican Restaurant and Cantina at three Indiana locations will receive $54,638 in back wages following an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division (WHD) that disclosed overtime and recordkeeping violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

WHD investigators determined the employer failed to pay servers and cooks overtime as required by the FLSA. Specifically, the employer failed to pay cooks for some of the hours they worked, and paid servers overtime at time-and-one-half their direct wages of $2.13 per hour, rather than basing the rate on the full minimum wage of $7.25 per hour, as the law requires. The employer also failed to maintain accurate records of hours worked and pay received by employees, resulting in recordkeeping violations.

The company has amended its payroll practices to ensure proper overtime calculations.

"The U.S. Department of Labor is committed to ensuring employees receive all the wages they have rightfully earned," said Wage and Hour Division District Director Patricia Lewis in Indianapolis. "Employers may avoid wage violations by contacting us for compliance assistance."

Employers who discover overtime or minimum wage violations may self-report and resolve those violations without litigation through the PAID program. For more information about the FLSA and other laws enforced by the Division, contact the Division's toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Information is also available at https://www.dol.gov/whd including a search tool to use if you think you may be owed back wages collected by WHD.

MYRTLE BEACH, SC – Prime Retail Management Group Inc. - operator of two "Beach Bums" locations in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina - will pay $63,568 in back wages and liquidated damages to 41 employees after a U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division (WHD) investigation determined the employer violated overtime and recordkeeping provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

WHD investigators found that Prime Retail Management Group Inc. failed to pay employees overtime when they worked more than 40 hours in a workweek. Instead, the company paid workers their straight-time rates without regard to the number of hours they worked. Prime Retail Management Group Inc. also failed to maintain accurate time and payroll records, resulting in FLSA recordkeeping violations.

"Employers must pay employees the wages they have legally earned for all the hours they have worked," said Wage and Hour Division District Director Jamie Benefiel, in Columbia, South Carolina. "Other employers should take this as an opportunity to review their own pay practices to ensure that they are complying with the law. We remain committed to educating employers and employees about their rights and responsibilities so that violations can be avoided, and that employers compete on a level playing field."

For more information about the FLSA and other laws enforced by the Wage and Hour Division, contact the toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Employers who discover overtime or minimum wage violations may self-report and resolve those violations without litigation through the PAID program. Information is also available at https://www.dol.gov/whd.