Employers:    North Central Community Services Program and Affiliates, operating as North Central Health Care in Wausau, Wisconsin

Action:           Complaint filing

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

Court action: Alleging overtime and recordkeeping violations, the U.S. Department of Labor filed a complaint in federal court on May 14, 2024, after an investigation by the Wage and Hour Division found case managers employed by North Central Community Services Program and Affiliates community treatment program were working unrecorded overtime hours. 

Operating as North Central Health Care, the Wausau-based medical care partnership between Marathon, Lincoln, and Langlade counties offers a variety of public health services, such as community treatment services, mental health care, substance abuse treatment and youth crisis care.

Investigators interviewed employees and examined pay records from June 17, 2021, through June 16, 2023, and found current and former case managers reported off-the-clock work, a heavy case load, and reluctance or refusal from management to approve the overtime necessary to complete their work. 

North Central Health Care established a policy requiring case managers to seek approval for overtime but, in practice, refused to approve overtime, in part, by refusing to answer phone calls from case managers seeking that approval. The company also allegedly failed to address case manager complaints about unreasonable workload, resulting in undocumented overtime as case managers struggled to meet productivity requirements. 

The complaint seeks back wages, liquidated damages and an injunction against the employer from violating the Fair Labor Standards Act. 

Quote: “These case managers continued to go above and beyond to service the needs of their clients, while their employer refused to hear their complaints and pay them the wages they rightfully earned for their hard work and dedication,” said Wage and Hour District Director Kristin Tout in Minneapolis. “Employers are legally responsible for knowing and complying with federal wage laws.”

Background: In fiscal year 2023, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division recovered more than $31.8 million in back wages for workers in the healthcare industry nationwide.

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

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

United States Department of Labor v. North Central Community Services Program and Affiliates operating as North Central Health Care

Civil Action No. 3:24-cv-00320-wmc

NEW YORK – The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a consent judgment to recover $152,000 in back wages and liquidated damages for nine people employed by a Bronx medical care provider that routinely failed to pay them overtime for hours over 40 in a workweek because their employer wrongly classified them as exempt from certain federal regulations.

The action in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on May 10, 2024, requires Bronx Urgent Care P.C. to pay $152,000 – $76,000 in back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages – to the affected workers. The court also affirmed $8,000 in civil money penalties assessed by the department because of the violations’ willful nature. 

The judgment follows an investigation by the department’s Wage and Hour Division that found the employer, which operates as Bronx Urgent Care, owner Basil Bruno, and operations manager Samuel Singer violated the Fair Labor Standards Act by misusing the exemption and paying the affected workers their regular hourly rates for all hours worked, including hours over 40 when the Fair Labor Standards Act requires payment of overtime wages at time and one-half rates. 

“Our investigation and the outcome in this case show the Wage and Hour Division is committed to protecting a worker’s right to be paid all the wages they rightfully earn,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Jorge R. Alvarez in New York City. “Employers who fail to comply with federal labor laws often learn that violations lead to costly consequences far above the amount of wages they should have paid.” 

In addition to the wage recovery, damages and penalties assessed, the court order also forbids Bronx Urgent Care from future violations of FLSA provisions.

“The U.S. Department of Labor will take all necessary legal actions, including recovering back wages, seeking damages and assessing penalties, to hold employers who violate the law accountable,” said Regional Solicitor of Labor Jeffrey S. Rogoff in New York.

View the consent judgment.

The division’s New York City District Office conducted the investigation. The department’s Office of the Solicitor in New York litigated, leading to the negotiated settlement.

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 the division confidentially with questions, regardless of where they are from. 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 Timesheet App for iOS and Android devices – free and available in English and Spanish – to track hours and pay.

Employer:                     LBB Progress Ridge LLC, operating as Little Big Burger 

                                      12345 SW Horizon Blvd. Ste #41

                                      Beaverton, OR 97007 

Type of action:                      Consent judgment and order

Name of defendants:            LBB Progress Ridge LLC

Amergent Hospitality Group Inc.

Fred Glick

Mike Pruitt

Adrian Oca

Background: Investigators with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division found LBB Progress Ridge LLC and Amergent Hospitality Group Inc – owners and operators of Little Big Burger restaurant locations in Oregon and Washington – required employees at 14 locations to share a portion of their tips with managers, a violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act. They determined the employers knew about federal regulations for tip pools but willfully required workers to share their earned tips.

Resolution: The consent judgment orders the employers to pay $148,248 in tips illegally withheld and an equal amount in damages to 581 workers and forbids the employers from future violations. It also orders the employers to pay $20,000 in penalties assessed by the department for their willful violations. 

Court:                         U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon

Docket Number:       3:24-cv-00736-MO

Quote: “Oregon’s Little Big Burger joins a list of shameful U.S. restaurant employers we’ve found shortchanging workers by misusing some of their tips to pay managers not allowed to pocket tips,” said Regional Solicitor of Labor Marc Pilotin in San Francisco. “Federal law forbids employers from keeping employees’ tips — either direct from customers or shared in a tip pool — for any purpose.” 

Background: The division investigated Little Big Burger locations in Beaverton, Eugene, Hillsboro and Lake Oswego, as well as nine in Portland and one in Seattle.

The division’s Portland District Office conducted the investigation and the department’s Office of the Solicitor in San Francisco obtained the consent judgment. 

“Since 2022, the Wage and Hour Division has recovered more than $2 million in unpaid tips for more than 1,500 people employed as restaurant workers in Oregon and Idaho,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Katherine Walum in Portland. “Federal law protects every worker’s right to be paid their full, earned wages. As Little Big Burger has learned, wage theft brings costly consequences for employers.”

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

SOUTH BEND, IN – The operator of 61 liquor stores in two states must pay $354,633 in back wages and damages to 156 employees, post a statement and play a recorded video message to inform workers of their right to cooperate with federal wage investigators and notify them that he is subject to a federal lawsuit for retaliating against workers and failing to pay required wages, a U.S. District Court has ordered. 

The court, in the Northern District of Indiana in South Bend, included these requirements in a consent preliminary injunction and order entered in response to a February 2024 U.S. Department of Labor lawsuit seeking a restraining order against Bhola Singh, owner of Vishav Inc. in Granger for retaliating against workers who spoke to investigators from the department’s Wage and Hour Division and trying to coerce them to return back wages found due. 

Entered by District Judge Damon R. Leichty on May 8, 2024, the order requires the owner and operator of Mega Liquor & Smoke stores in Indiana and Michigan, to post the statement in a language understood by workers within three days and play the video — its content approved by the department — for employees within seven days during work hours. 

Singh agreed to immediately stop retaliating against workers who cooperated with investigators and received back wages found due. The employer must also provide the court with an accurate accounting of back wages paid and received by employees within 90 days. Any remaining back wages and damages owed will be paid to the department for distribution.

“The court is holding Bhola Singh accountable for his illegal tactics to stop employees from receiving the back wages and damages they’re owed,” said Regional Solicitor of Labor Christine Heri in Chicago. “Employers should know that we will use every available legal resource to protect workers and end illegal and retaliatory practices by employers.” 

In its lawsuit, the department alleged that, after signing a Sept. 29, 2023 settlement agreement to pay the back wages and liquidated damages for minimum wage and overtime violations against the affected workers between Nov. 9, 2020, and Nov. 6, 2022, Singh engaged in an ongoing scheme to deprive current and former employees of the money owed by using threats, intimidation and coercion. The Fair Labor Standards Act bans employers from retaliating against workers. 

“The Wage and Hour Division is committed to ensuring that Singh pays the wages and damages found due to his employees and that he agreed to pay months ago,” said Wage and Hour Division Regional Administrator Michael Lazzeri in Chicago. “Our actions to stop this employer from intimidating workers and exploiting them for financial gain serves notice to other employers that we will not tolerate their failures to meet terms of federal wage agreements and retaliation. We’ll continue to help foster environments in which workers are safe from retaliation for asserting their rights.”

Attorneys Travis Gosselin and Haley Jenkins of the department’s Regional Office of the Solicitor in Chicago are litigating the case. 

Learn more about the Wage and Hour Division. 

For more information about the FLSA and other laws that prohibit retaliation, contact the division’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Workers and employers can call the division confidentially with questions, regardless of where they are from, and the division can speak with callers in more than 200 languages. 

U.S. Department of Labor v. Vishav Inc. d/b/a Mega Liquor & Smoke #13, Bhola Singh

Case No: 3:24-cv-00186-DRL-MGG

Who:               U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division          

                        South Carolina Human Affairs Commission

                        South Carolina Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation

What:             Labor law webinar for National Waitstaff Day 

When:             May 21, 2024, 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. EDT   

Where:           Online webinar. Register to join this free event. 

Background: The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division is joining the South Carolina Human Affairs Commission and the South Carolina Department of Labor Licensing and Regulation – to mark National Waitstaff Day with a webinar on federal wage and other protections for people employed in the state’s food service industry. 

This multi-agency event will provide information on the Fair Labor Standards Act’s minimum wage, overtime and recordkeeping provisions as well as tip pool requirements. The webinar will also cover safety hazards and discrimination in the workplace. 

In fiscal year 2023, the Wage and Hour Division’s Columbia district office identified violations in 108 investigations in the food services industry. These investigations found more than 640 workers owed more than $1.6 million in back wages and liquidated damages. In addition, the agency assessed more than $160,000 in civil money penalties to employers found violating the FLSA.

Quote: “South Carolina’s food service workers are among some of our lowest-paid workers. The U.S. Department of Labor and our state partners remain committed to ensuring these vulnerable workers take home every dollar earned,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Jamie Benefiel in Columbia, South Carolina. “We’ve designed this webinar to meet the food service industry’s unique needs in the hope that we can educate employers – including staffing agencies – on their legal responsibilities and help workers understand how we safeguard their wages and benefits.”

                                                                                   ###

Editor’s note: This release has been updated to correct the number of affected workers owed back wages. 

WASHINGTON – An administrative law judge has upheld the findings of a U.S. Department of Labor investigation into the employment practices of a Bowie, Maryland concrete subcontractor and its owners that found the employers wrongly classified workers on a federally funded affordable housing project in the District of Columbia in violation of federal regulations.

The action follows an investigation by the department’s Wage and Hour Division of V&V Construction Inc. and its owners, Carlos and Cristina Vicente, that determined the employers classified journey workers as skilled laborers incorrectly and, by doing so, underpaid them for overtime hours. The employers also paid workers a split rate of 25 hours per week as full journey workers and 15 hours per week as skilled laborers and did not pay workers’ their correct prevailing wages and fringe benefits. Investigators also discovered that V&V Construction submitted falsified payroll records and failed to prove it displayed required worksite posters.

The company’s workers did concrete installation in August 2018 as part of the construction of Liberty Place Apartments in northwest Washington as a subcontractor to Hamel Builders of Washington LLC, the project’s prime contractor.

The division determined V&V Construction and its owners owed $195,492 in back wages to 55 workers for violations of the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts, but they failed to make any payments and requested a hearing with the Office of Administrative Law Judges. The department’s Office of the Solicitor reached a settlement with the employers to resolve the matter without further litigation.

“The employers wrongly classified and underpaid journey workers as laborers and then segregated work hours inaccurately, denying workers a significant amount of wages and fringe benefits,” explained Wage and Hour Division District Director Roberto Melendez in Richmond, Virginia. “The Department of Labor is committed to ensuring that federal investments in construction projects result in the creation of good jobs defined by strong labor standards. We encourage employers awarded federal contracts to contact us for compliance assistance to avoid violations like those in this case.”

Consent findings issued by Judge Theodore Annos with the Office of Administrative Law Judges in Washington upheld the investigation conclusions and ordered V&V Construction and its owners to pay $186,124 in back wages to the affected employees. As part of the settlement, the employers agreed to enhanced compliance, including 18 months of independent monitoring of DBRA contracts to ensure future compliance.

“Federally funded projects require employers to comply with the law. When they fail to do so, we will hold them legally accountable to ensure workers are properly classified and not deprived of their hard-earned wages and benefits,” said Acting Regional Solicitor of Labor Samantha Thomas in Philadelphia.

Completed in 2020, the Liberty Place Apartments project relied on funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development awarded to the District of Columbia Department of Housing and Community Development.

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 or concerns – regardless of where they are from – and the division can speak with callers in more than 200 languages at its toll-free number, 1-866-4-US-WAGE (487-9243). Help ensure hours worked and pay are accurate by downloading the department’s Android and iOS Timesheet App for free in English or Spanish. 

Lea en Español

Employers:    Medhealth Suppliers & Providers Inc, operating as Evergreen Place, Evergreen Place 2 

                        and Bedford Home, Lansing, Michigan

                        Roseline Rowan, owner                        

Action:            Consent order and judgement

Court:             U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan, Southern Division

Court action: On May 3, 2024, U.S. District judge Jane M. Beckering ordered Roseline Rowan, owner of  Medhealth Suppliers & Providers Inc., to pay $190,648 — $95,324 in back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages to four employees after an investigation by the Wage and Hour Division found the employer violated the Fair Labor Standard Act’s minimum wage, overtime and recordkeeping provisions.

Investigators found Medhealth paid salaries to non-exempt employees that did not meet the minimum wage and overtime requirements for all hours worked. The company’s employees were live-in caregivers, providing nearly round-the-clock care for residents at the three group homes in Lansing.

Quote: “The caregivers provide their clients with round-the-clock care and deserve the wages they rightfully earned for their hard work and dedication,” said Wage and Hour District Director Mary O’Rourke in Grand Rapids. “Employers are legally responsible for knowing and complying with federal wage laws.”

Background: In fiscal year 2023, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division recovered more than $31.8 million in back wages for workers in the healthcare industry nationwide and $654,035 for workers in Michigan. 

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

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

United States Department of Labor v. 

Civil Action No. 1:24-cv-00311-JMB-SJB

Department of Labor recovers $538K in back wages, damages from Maryland residential rehabilitation provider for 37 landscaping workers denied full pay

Employer:                  

Divine Connect Care Inc.

Location:                    

3311 Toledo Terrace

Hyattsville, MD 20782

Investigation findings:   

Investigators with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division determined that the adult rehabilitation provider failed to pay non-exempt direct support staff the required overtime premium for all hours over 40 in a workweek. In addition, they failed to pay one employee for all hours worked as well as neglected to record total worked hours and rates of pay on time and payroll records, respectively. These actions violated the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Recovered: $269,321 in back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages for 37 employees.

Quote: “Our investigators found Divine Connect Care failed to pay dozens of employees all of their legally earned wages,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director John L. DuMont in Pittsburgh. “Direct support staff, like in-home care workers, deserve to be paid every dollar they’re owed. The Department of Labor is determined to act on their behalf when employers fail to meet their obligations.” 

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). 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.

 NEW ORLEANS – While people employed in the home care industry are among the nation’s lowest paid workers and are routinely expected to work long hours to help those in need, these workers are too often shortchanged by their employers’ unfair and illegal pay practices. 

In Louisiana, Department of Labor has determined the use of improper employment practices commonly found in the industry shortchanged 219 people employed by five companies in Baton Rouge, Greensburg and Shreveport. The companies are Assisted Hands LLC, Joy PCA Services LLC and Our Grace LLC in Baton Rouge; Quality Community Homes LLC in Greensburg and We Care Sitting Services LLC in Shreveport. 

Investigators with the department’s Wage and Hour Division determined four of the five companies – with the exception of Assisted Hands – misclassified employees as independent contractors and paid them straight-time rates for all hours worked when they should have paid overtime for hours over 40 in a workweek. The division also identified Fair Labor Standards Act violations related to improper deductions from employees’ wages and failures to pay minimum wage and overtime as required.

“Misclassification of employees as independent contractors is particularly troublesome in the home care industry," said Wage and Hour Division District Director Troy Mouton in New Orleans. “These workers perform critical services and their employers must pay them every cent the law requires. The Department of Labor will continue to demand industry compliance and hold employers who violate the law accountable.” 

Specifically, the investigations recovered back wages and liquidated damages and cited violations as follows:

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. The division protects workers regardless of where they are from and can communicate with workers and employers confidentially in more than 200 languages at 1-866-4-US-WAGE (487-9243). 

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

AMARILLO, TX – The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered $52,497 in back wages for 134 workers with disabilities after an Amarillo nonprofit – which provides rehabilitation and vocational training services to adults with developmental and physical disabilities – failed to pay them the required subminimum wage rate.

The department’s Wage and Hour Division found Advo Companies Inc. violated federal law when the employer paid employees with disabilities an incorrect subminimum wage based on flawed time studies and incorrect prevailing wage rates. Additionally, the employer failed to provide pre-employment transition services and vocational rehabilitation services for workers 24 and younger and failed make sure all workers were provided with career counseling services, related information and referrals and training opportunities required by Section 511 of the Rehabilitation Act, which negated the employer’s ability to pay the subminimum wage associated with its Fair Labor Standards Act’s 14(c) certification.

“Employers must comply with federal regulations and pay workers with disabilities at the proper rate for all the hours they work,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Evelyn Ortiz in Albuquerque, New Mexico. “We are committed to making sure all workers receive the highest protections to which they are entitled and we encourage employers and employees to contact us for compliance assistance.”

Since 1991, Advo Companies Inc. has provided services for adults with developmental and physical disabilities, including vocational training, adult day and rehabilitation services, and operates approximately 27 residential homes.

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 contact the division confidentially at its toll-free number, 1-866-4-US-WAGE (487-9243), regardless of immigration status. The division can communicate with callers in more than 200 languages. Download the agency’s new Timesheet App, which is available in English and Spanish for Android and Apple devices, to ensure hours and pay are accurate.