ROBBINSVILLE, NC – Lovin Contracting Co. Inc. – a landscaping company based in Robbinsville, North Carolina – will pay $1,277,550 to 231 employees after a U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division investigation uncovered violations of the labor provisions of the H-2B temporary visa program and the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

WHD investigators determined Lovin Contracting Co. Inc. paid workers rates the employer established based on the workers' positions and experience, rather than paying the prevailing wage rates required by the H-2B visa program, which were higher. When employees compensated with these lower rates worked more than 40 hours in a week, additional violations resulted when their overtime was also based on these illegal lower rates. The employer was also found to have paid other workers flat salaries, without regard to the number of hours they worked. The salaries sometimes failed to cover the required rates per hour, and the employer further failed to pay these workers additional overtime when they worked more than 40 hours per week.

Lovin Contracting Co. Inc. also failed to pay most H-2B workers' transportation costs to and from their home countries, as required, and failed to pay required subsistence payments to those workers while they were in transit. The company also failed to keep complete records for any travel expenses that were reimbursed to H-2B employees, and to maintain records of hours worked by employees paid on a salary basis.

"Employers must pay employees all the wages they have legally earned, and we must ensure that employers understand and abide by the provisions of the H-2B visa program to protect the wages and working conditions of both guest and U.S. workers," said Wage and Hour District Director Richard Blaylock, in Raleigh. "The program safeguards American employees against displacement while protecting foreign workers from being paid less than the wage they were promised."

Before the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services can approve an employer's petition for H-2B visa workers, an employer must file an application with the Department stating that there are not sufficient U.S. employees who are able, willing, qualified, and available. The application must also affirm that the employment of non-immigrant, temporary workers will not adversely affect the wages and working conditions of similarly employed persons in the U.S. The law provides for numerous employee protections and employer requirements with respect to wages and working conditions that do not apply to non-agricultural programs.

For more information about the H-2B temporary visa program, FLSA, and other laws enforced by the Division, contact the toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Information is also available at https://www.dol.gov/whd.

SULPHUR, LA – After an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division (WHD), temporary staffing company Coastal Staffing Services LLC – based in Sulphur – will pay $1,104,466 in back wages to 1,412 employees involved in post-Hurricane Harvey recovery efforts in Southeast Texas to resolve violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

WHD investigators found Coastal Staffing Services LLC violated the overtime and minimum wage provision of the FLSA when it failed to pay employees one and one-half times their regular rate of pay for hours they worked beyond 40 in a workweek and paid less than the federal minimum wage when it missed payrolls after Hurricane Harvey. The company violated recordkeeping requirements by failing to maintain accurate records of the number of hours employees worked each day and each week.

"American workers need their lawfully earned wages, especially in the wake of natural disasters and recovery efforts," said Wage and Hour Division District Director Troy Mouton, in New Orleans. "Through education and compliance assistance, the U.S. Department of Labor works to ensure that employers understand the requirements of the FLSA and that workers involved in rebuilding affected communities are paid their rightful wages."

Soon after Hurricane Harvey, WHD deployed teams to provide in-person compliance assistance in Texas and Louisiana. The teams met with workers, homeowners, and volunteers as well as with representatives of shelters and community service centers to increase awareness of federal safety, health, and wage and hour laws; provide compliance tools for employers; and help workers understand their rights.

Workers and employers with questions about the FLSA or any of the federal wage laws administered by the Division should call the Agency's toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). All calls are confidential.

Employers who discover overtime or minimum wage violations may self-report and resolve those violations without litigation through the PAID program. More information is available online at http://www.dol.gov/whd/.

ELKHART, IN – Recreational vehicle parts manufacturer Lippert Components – based in Elkhart, Indiana – will pay $338,151 in overtime back wages and liquidated damages to 1,199 current and former employees following an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division (WHD) that found violations of the overtime requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) at 53 plants nationwide.

WHD investigators found that when determining overtime rates, the employer ­­failed to include in the calculation certain bonuses employees had earned. Instead of computing overtime at time-and-one-half employees' total straight time earnings, including these bonuses, the employer based that calculation only on employees' pre-bonus earnings. Excluding the bonuses resulted in artificially lowered overtime rates, violating the FLSA.

"Employers are obligated to pay employees all the wages they have legally earned," said Wage and Hour Division District Director Patricia Lewis in Indianapolis. "Employers have an obligation to understand and to comply with the labor laws applicable to their business. We encourage employers to make use of the many tools we provide to help them, and to contact the Wage and Hour Division for assistance to ensure they understand their obligations."

In September 2016, Lippert Components began including the bonuses in question in employee's regular rates of pay in overtime work weeks. However, the employer failed to make any retro-active payments. As a result of this investigation the employer paid back wages for pay periods preceding the date that they began to comply with the law.

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.

ELKINS PARK, PA – The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania has ordered SM Choi Inc. – which operates four fast-food establishments in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania – to pay $93,146 in back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages to 38 employees for willful violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The Department also assessed the employer $26,121 in civil penalties.

An investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division (WHD) found SM Choi Inc. willfully violated overtime and recordkeeping provisions of the FLSA.

WHD investigators found that the employer paid cashiers and cooks flat salaries, in cash, without regard to the number of hours that they actually worked. This practice resulted in violations when employees worked more than 40 hours in a workweek but the employer did not pay overtime. SM Choi Inc. also failed to maintain required records of the number of hours employees worked. WHD found the employer engaging in this same practice in a previous WHD investigation in 2016.

"SM Choi Inc. employees worked five to six days per week, for an average of 10 hours per day, and were denied the wages they rightfully earned," said Wage and Hour Division District Office Director James Cain, in Philadelphia. "This enforcement action and consent judgment will help to ensure that workers are paid the wages they are legally owed and that employers in the restaurant industry operate on a level playing field."

WHD is committed to providing employers with the tools they need to understand their obligations and to comply with federal labor laws. 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 its 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.

WASHINGTON DC – The U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division will host a public listening session in Washington, D.C., to gather views on the Part 541 white-collar exemption regulations, often known as the "Overtime Rule," on October 17, 2018, from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. EDT.

Issued under the Fair Labor Standards Act, these regulations implement exemptions from the overtime-pay requirements for executive, administrative, professional, and certain other employees. The Department plans to update the Overtime Rule, and is interested in hearing the views and ideas of participants on possible revisions to the regulations.

WHAT:
Public Listening Session on the Part 541 White-Collar Exemption Regulations

WHERE:
U.S. Department of Labor
Frances Perkins Building
200 Constitution Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20210
(Enter at the 3rd and C Street NW entrance)

WHEN:
Wednesday, October 17, 2018
10 a.m. to 12 p.m. EDT

There is no fee to attend the listening session; however, registration is required. To register, click here. 

For more information about the Overtime Rule, click here. For more information on the Fair Labor Standards Act, and other federal wage laws administered by the Wage and Hour Division, call the department's toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243), or visit the agency's website at http://dol.gov/whd.

CHATTANOOGA, TN – A Tennessee poultry processing facility has paid $36,038 in back wages to 69 employees and a civil penalty of $7,469 after a U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division (WHD) investigation found Koch Foods Inc. violated the overtime and recordkeeping provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

Investigators determined that the employer did not accurately record the total daily and weekly hours worked by some employees. Consequently, workers did not receive wages for all the hours they worked, and overtime violations ensued when the employees worked more than 40 hours in a workweek and were not paid time-and-one-half.

"Tracking and recording workers' hours is the responsibility of the employer," said Wage and Hour Division's District Director Nettie Lewis, in Nashville. "The outcome of this investigation serves as a reminder to all employers to review their pay practices to ensure workers are being paid for all the hours that they work. We remain committed to ensuring that employers who comply with the law do not find themselves at a competitive disadvantage to those who do not."

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.

INDIANAPOLIS, IN – The U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division (WHD) will offer a compliance seminar for contractors, unions, workers and other interested parties to provide information on the rules governing federal prevailing wage requirements.

WHD will offer the training on October 24, 2018, from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., at the Ivy Tech Community College Culinary and Conference Center, 2820 North Meridian St., Indianapolis, Indiana 46208.

The training is a component of the Wage and Hour Division's ongoing effort to increase awareness and enhanced compliance with federal prevailing wage requirements.

While seminar attendance is free, preregistration is required. Registration can be completed through the online registration link at Prevailing Wage Survey and Compliance Seminar- Indianapolis.

For more information on the Davis-Bacon Act, the Service Contract Act, and other federal wage laws related to government contracts administered by the Wage and Hour Division, call the department's toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243) or visit the agency's website at https://dol.gov/whd.

CHARLESTON, SC – The U.S. District Court for the Middle District of South Carolina has ordered Hugo Villalpando, the owner of La Carreta Mexican restaurants in Charleston and Summerville, South Carolina, to pay $190,000 in back wages and liquidated damages to 58 employees for violating the minimum wage, overtime, and recordkeeping provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The action comes after an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division (WHD).

The WHD investigation of the restaurants - owned by Villalpando through entities La Carreta of Folly Inc. and La Carreta Inc. - determined that the restaurants violated minimum wage requirements when it failed to include some employees on the payroll, did not directly pay employees at all, and allowed employees to work only for tips. Overtime violations resulted from several of the employer's pay practices, including paying workers for fewer than 40 hours per week without regard to the number of hours they actually worked. Time records indicated employees regularly worked up to 50 hours per week, yet payroll never included those hours. Additional overtime violations resulted when the restaurants paid cooks and bussers flat salaries, without overtime, for workweeks longer than 40 hours.

In the instances when La Carreta and Villalpando paid overtime to servers, they violated the FLSA when they based overtime rates on the servers' direct cash wages of $2.13 per hour rather than on the full minimum wage of $7.25 per hour, as the law requires.

WHD also cited the employer's failure to record all the hours employees worked, and keep any records of some workers' employment.

"This employer is obligated to pay his employees the wages they have legally earned, and must never gain a competitive advantage over those that comply with the law," said Wage and Hour Division District Director Jamie Benefiel, in Columbia. "The U.S. Department of Labor encourages all to reach out to their local Wage and Hour Division office for information about how to comply, and to make use of the many tools we offer to explain their responsibilities and how to avoid violations."
WHD conducted an investigation of La Carreta's Summerville restaurant in 2011 and found the same violations.

The Department's Office of the Solicitor filed a complaint against the two restaurants and their owner to remedy the violations found in the current investigation. Villalpando settled with Department and the parties filed a consent judgment and order that the court approved on September 10, 2018. In addition to being ordered to pay the back wages and damages, the two restaurants and Villalpando are enjoined from committing future violations under the FLSA.

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.

PHOENIX, AZ – The U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona has entered a consent judgment requiring Bulletproof Securities Inc. of Phoenix, Arizona, to pay $39,500 in back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages to 151 employees following an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division (WHD) that identified minimum wage, overtime, and recordkeeping violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

WHD investigators found that Bulletproof Securities Inc. failed to pay employees for hours they spent training, which resulted in minimum wage and overtime violations. The employer's failure to include the training hours that employees recorded and submitted in their weekly time sheets resulted in recordkeeping violations.

"This judgment ensures the workers will receive their rightfully earned wages, and that the employer competes on a fair and level playing field," said Wage and Hour Division District Director Eric Murray, in Phoenix. "We encourage employers to contact the Department of Labor for assistance and to use the many tools we provide to help them."

The judgment enjoins and restrains the employer from violating the FLSA, including the prohibition to discriminate against any employee as a result of the litigation or for exercising his or her rights. The regional Solicitor's Office in San Francisco litigated the case for the Department.

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). 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 www.dol.gov/whd including a search tool to use if you think you may be owed back wages collected by WHD.

MILAN, TN – American Ordnance LLC – based in Middletown, Iowa – has paid $678,296 in back wages, overtime, and fringe benefits to 63 employees after a U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division (WHD) investigation found the employer violated provisions of the McNamara-O'Hara Service Contract Act (SCA), and the Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act (CWHSSA). American Ordnance LLC is an ammunition manufacturer for the U.S. military performing work at the Milan Munitions Plant in Milan, Tennessee.

WHD investigators found the manufacturer failed to segregate work subject to SCA requirements performed by its subcontractor, Jabezco Group Inc., and failed to include SCA requirements in their contract. Failure to include those requirements resulted in that subcontractor failing to pay its employees hourly rates that met or exceeded the required rates for each classification of work performed. The subcontractor also subsequently failed to pay proper vacation, holiday, and health and welfare benefits as required by the applicable collective bargaining agreements.

Investigators also found American Ordnance LLC failed to pay accurate overtime rates based on applicable prevailing wage rates when employees worked more than 40 hours in a workweek.

"Contractors that bid on government contracts should be aware of and must adhere to all applicable laws when paying employees," said Wage and Hour Division District Director Nettie Lewis, in Nashville. "We provide a number of tools to help employers understand and comply with the labor requirements on government contracts. Our education and enforcement work in this area levels the playing field for all contractors who perform work for the government."

The SCA requires contractors and subcontractors performing services on prime contracts in excess of $2,500 to pay service employees in various classes no less than the wage rates and fringe benefits found prevailing in the locality, or the rates, including prospective increases, contained in a predecessor contractor's collective bargaining agreement.

For more information about the FLSA, SCA, CWHSSA, and other laws enforced by the Division, contact the Division's toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243) or visit the Division's web site. The Division also offers a search tool which allows users to determine if you are owed back wages collected by the Division.