OKLAHOMA CITY –After severe weather and other natural calamities strike, the U.S. Department of Labor urges employers who clear debris, repair homes or provide other disaster recovery services to avoid using pay practices that violate federal regulations by taking advantage of the many resources it provides.

“While employers involved in disaster recovery are focused largely on responding to the needs of people in areas stricken when calm resumes, they cannot overlook their obligations to pay people fully and properly for the hard work they do,” explained Wage and Hour Division District Director Michael Speer in Oklahoma City. “The U.S. Department of Labor acts quickly to protect workers’ rights to their full wages, protections and benefits, and encourage employers and workers to contact us for guidance to avoid compliance issues.”

Recent devastating tornadoes in Oklahoma are clear reminders of the benefits of the Wage and Hour Division’s Natural Disaster Compliance Assistance Toolkit. With downloadable information on preventing violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act, the kit focuses on the most common infractions by employers involved in disaster recovery, clean-up and rebuilding efforts. Typically, in a disaster’s aftermath, division investigators find employers not paying proper minimum, overtime and prevailing wages; misclassifying employees as independent contractors; keeping incomplete payroll records; and using child labor illegally. 

People employed in storm and disaster recovery whose employer failed to pay them fully may contact the division confidentially and toll-free at 1-866-4-US-WAGE (487-9243). The division protects workers regardless of immigration status and can communicate with workers in more than 200 languages. Learn more about contacting the division or about how to file a complaint.

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.

Employers:    Gordo Corp., operating as El Gordito, Belleville, Illinois

                        Patricia and Samuel Gonzalez Lara, owners

Action:           Complaint filing

Court:             U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois

Court action: The U.S. Department of Labor filed a complaint in federal court on May 21, 2024, alleging Gordo Corp., operator of El Gordito restaurant violated federal minimum wage, overtime and recordkeeping regulations. The filing comes after an investigation by the department’s Wage and Hour Division found the restaurant and its owners and operators Patricia Gonzalez Lara and Samuel Gonzalez Lara violated the Fair Labor Standards Act when they did the following:

• Failed to pay servers minimum wage for all hours worked.
• Did not pay servers and kitchen staff an overtime premium of time and one-half their hourly rate of pay for hours over 40 in a workweek.
• Did not keep complete and accurate records that detailed an employee’s hours worked.
• Often underreported the number of hours worked by staff. 
• Allowed full-time servers to keep their tips but failed to enact a proper tip credit.
• Failed to pay servers the required cash wage of $2.13 per hour, and often paid no cash wage at all. 
• Made up the number of hours servers worked and how much they earned in tips so that the amount of servers’ paychecks would be close to $0.

Investigators reviewed payroll records from May 22, 2021 to May 21, 2023, and determined approximately $150,000 in back wages are due to 11 employees. The complaint also seeks an equal amount in liquidated damages – for a total of $300,000 – and an injunction against Gordo Corp. and its owners forbidding them from committing future FLSA violations. 

Quote: “We will not tolerate employers violating federal wage laws by making up hours worked and tips received in order to make it appear that they did not owe their servers any wages,” said Wage and Hour District Director Noah Lee in St. Louis, Missouri. “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 $29.M in back wages for workers in the food service 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.

U.S. Department of Labor v. Gordo Corp., operating as El Gordito, Patricia Gonzalez Lara, Samuel Gonzalez Lara

Civil Action No. 3:24-cv-01359

Employers:    MKK Holding Inc., operating as the Blue Fish Asian Cuisine, Dearborn, Michigan

                        Sung Hee Kim

                        Min Kyu Kim

                        Yong Kim                        

Action:           U.S. Department of Labor obtains consent judgment, files complaint

Court:             U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan

Court action: The court entered a consent judgment on March 20, 2024, requiring MKK Holding Inc — operating as the Blue Fish Asian Cuisine restaurant — its owner Sung Hee Kim, and managers Min Kyu Kim and Yong Kim to pay $38,602, representing $19,301 in back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages, to 17 employees. The consent judgment also finds Sung Hee Kim in contempt of a 2018 court judgment to abide by the Fair Labor Standards Act and requires her to demonstrate compliance with the FLSA within 30 days. 

The consent judgment resolves a complaint the department filed with the district court after an investigation by the Wage and Hour Division found the employers violated the Fair Labor Standards Act by paying kitchen staff and some servers a flat day-rate and did not pay overtime for hours over 40 in a workweek. They paid other servers hourly rates and paid them overtime at only one and a-half times the Michigan subminimum hourly wage for tipped workers, not their regular rates as the FLSA requires. Investigators also allege the employer failed to keep complete time records and maintained three separate sets of pay records, which appeared to be manipulated to suggest FLSA compliance.

The department also assessed civil money penalties of $17,153 that MKK Holding Inc. has paid for willful and repeat FLSA violations. 

This is not the first time Sung Hee Kim has faced legal action for similar federal wage violations. In 2018, the same district court issued a summary judgment decision against Kim finding she had violated numerous FSLA provisions at another restaurant she owned, Seoul Garden in Ann Arbor. At that time, the court permanently forbid Kim from violating the FLSA. 

Quote: “Employers like Sung Hee Kim who violate the Fair Labor Standards Act repeatedly show a blatant disregard for their employees and the law by not paying workers their rightfully earned wages,” said Wage and Hour District Director Timolin Mitchell in Detroit. “Wage violations hurt workers and their families, and cause harm to local economies because workers have less money to spend. Employers are legally responsible for knowing and complying with federal wage laws.”

“The U.S. Department of Labor will take all necessary legal action to protect workers’ rights to their earned wages and hold employers accountable when they fail to comply with the law,” said Regional Solicitor of Labor Christine Heri in Chicago.

Background: 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. MKK Holding Inc., et. al

Civil Action No. 4:24-cv-10677-SDK-EAS 

Employer:      La Mojarra Loca Inc.

                        821 N. Lamb #14

Las Vegas, NV 89110

Investigation findings: A U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division investigation found three La Mojarra Loca restaurant locations in Las Vegas did not pay required overtime rates for hours over 40 in a workweek, a violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act. The employer wrongly classified employees as exempt for overtime pay and paid them a flat salary regardless of how many hours they worked. 

Back Wages Recovered:       $75,729 in overtime wages for 33 employees

                                                $75,729 in liquidated damages for 33 employees

                                                $9,058 in civil money penalties for the reckless, repeated nature of the violations

Quote: “The operator of these La Mojarra Loca restaurants has continued to blatantly underpay and deprive employees of their hard-earned wages despite repeated investigations,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Gene Ramos in Las Vegas. “We are determined to do everything in our power under the law to stop the unacceptable practices of employers such as La Mojarra Loca.”

Background: The division’s investigations took place at three La Mojarra Loca restaurants in Las Vegas at 2797 S. Maryland Parkway, 821 N. Lamb Blvd. and 3210 E. Lake Mead Blvd. The infractions identified are similar to violations discovered at La Mojarra Loca restaurants in three investigations, one in 2019 and two in 2022 Those investigations recovered more than $450,000 in back wages and liquidated damages for affected employees, and more than $34,000 in penalties.

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 help and 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. 

Employer name:           Blanca Rosa Amezcua, operating as Taqueria Tepeque #1

                                               Taqueria Tepeque LLC, operating as Taqueria Tepeque #2                                

Investigation sites:      Taqueria Tepeque #1 

                                               701 E. Nolana Loop, Suite 3A 

                                               Pharr, TX 78577

                                               Taqueria Tepeque #2 

                                               3700 W. Dove Suite 700 

                                               McAllen, TX 78504

Investigation findings: Investigators with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division found Taqueria Tepeque #1 owned by Blanca Rosa Amezcua and Taqueria Tepeque #2 owned by Jaqueline Chacon, Blanca Rosa Amezcua’s daughter, and managed by Blanca Rosa Amezcua —  violated federal law when they paid cooks, servers and non-exempt managers hourly wages for all hours worked and failed to pay the required time and one-half rate for hours over 40 in a workweek. Additionally, the employers failed to keep federally required records.

In 2023, the division found more than 29 million owed for nearly 26,000 food service industry workers. On Jan. 10, 2024, the department published a final rule, effective March 11, 2024, revising the department’s guidance on how to analyze who is an employee or independent contractor under the Fair Labor Standards Act. Learn more about the final rule.

Back wages and damages: 19 employees were paid $37,329 in back wages and liquidated damages

Quote: “Employers are legally responsible for accounting for and paying employees for all hours worked, including time-and-one-half pay for all hours over 40 in a workweek,” said District Director Cynthia Cantu-Flores in McAllen, Texas. “Employers are responsible for knowing the law and abiding by it. The U.S. Labor Department offers many resources online to explain employers’ obligations and workers’ rights.”

Lea en Español

Read this news release En Español. 

Employer:      Samer Express LLC

295 Glenn Road

West Columbia, SC 29172

Investigation findings: U.S. Department of Labor investigators found a West Columbia gas station and convenience retailer failed to pay 29 employees overtime rates as required by law. Specifically, the employer paid straight time for all hours worked, and failed to pay the overtime premium of time and one-half employees’ hourly rates for hours over 40 in a workweek, in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act. 

Back wages and liquidated damages recovered:   $153,506 for the affected workers.

Quote: “The U.S. Department of Labor is committed to ensuring workers get every dollar they earned,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Jamie Benefiel in Columbia, South Carolina. “Failing to pay the proper rate for all of the hours employees work is a violation employers can and must avoid. We encourage employers with questions to reach out to us for compliance assistance, and for help understanding their obligations to their employees.”

Background: Samer Express LLCis a convenience store that also offers gasoline and food to consumers. The establishment was incorporated in South Carolina in January 2017. 

Employers and workers alike can contact the Wage and Hour Division confidentially with questions at its toll-free number, 1-866-4-US-WAGE – regardless of where they are from – and the department can speak with callers in more than 200 languages. Learn more about the Wage and Hour Division, including a fact sheet on Fair Labor Standards Act wage laws overtime requirements. Workers and employers can help track hours worked and pay by downloading the department’s Android and iOS timesheet app for free, which is available in English and Spanish. 

Date of action:                       May 8, 2024

Type of action:                      Denial of employer’s motion to dismiss

Employers:                            Advanced Care Staffing LLC, Brooklyn, New York

                                                Priority Care Staffing LLC, New York, New York

                                               CEO Sam Klein 

Background:                          The U.S. Department of Labor filed suit on March 20, 2023, against the employers, alleging they violated the Fair Labor Standards Act by making employees sign contracts that would force them to work for the company for three years or repay rightfully earned wages. The department asked the court to forbid the employers from reducing employees’ wages below federal minimums, either by demanding they enter into such contracts or by enforcing them. On July 20, 2023, the department amended the complaint to add Priority Care Staffing LLC as a defendant. On Sept. 28, 2023, the employers filed a motion to dismiss the department’s suit. 

Resolution:                            On May 8, 2024, U.S. District Judge Nina R. Morrison denied the employers’ motion, saying that the department sufficiently alleged that the employers violated the FLSA by pursuing arbitrations against former employees who resigned before their contract ended in an effort to claw back wages to satisfy the employers’ anticipated lost profits, arbitration costs and attorneys’ fees. Specifically, the court agreed such demands are “categorically for defendants’ benefit” and illegal kickbacks to the extent the demands would bring employees below the FLSA’s protected wage minimums. The litigation continues. View the memorandum and order. 

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

Docket Number:                    1:23-cv-02119-NRM-MMH

Quote:                                    “The U.S. Department of Labor will not stand by while employers use coercive contract provisions to claw back workers’ hard-earned wages. The court has upheld the department’s ability to vindicate the rights of workers whose employers require an unlawful choice: work for at least three years or repay rightfully earned wages. The department is committed to safeguarding workers from coercive contract provisions, and employers should be on notice that they cannot pursue damages to recoup lost profits, arbitration costs and attorneys’ fees from workers without risk of violating federal law,” said Solicitor of Labor Seema Nanda.

COLLINGDALE, PA – The Department of Labor has obtained a consent judgment in federal court that orders a Delaware County home care agency to pay more than $1 million in back wages, liquidated damages and penalties after the department found the employer shortchanged 159 workers of their earned wages. 

The action in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia follows an investigation of Caring Hearts Health Care Services LLC by the department’s Wage and Hour Division. Division investigators determined the Collingdale employer did not pay its employees overtime wages for hours over 40 in a workweek, instead paying them the same rate for all hours worked. In addition, the employer failed to accurately record employees’ hours worked. These violations were willful, as shown by an employee handbook stating that non-exempt employees “are entitled to overtime pay as required by applicable federal and state law.” 

“The Wage and Hour Division’s emphasis on rooting out wage theft in the home care industry has found yet another employer taking advantage of workers who provide vital services to people in need,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director James Cain in Philadelphia. “The hard-working people in this industry deserve respect and fair compensation. The Department of Labor is committed to enforcing labor standards to ensure workers receive the highest protections to which they are entitled.” 

The judgment requires Caring Hearts Health Care Services to pay 159 employees $478,294 in back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages, bars the employer from future Fair Labor Standards Act violations and affirms $97,459 in civil penalties the department assessed for the willful nature of the employer’s violations. 

“Employers who deliberately disregard federal regulations must learn the U.S. Department of Labor does not tolerate wage theft,” explained Acting Regional Solicitor Samantha Thomas in Philadelphia. “As the outcome of this case shows, we will use all legal actions to hold employers legally accountable and liable for wages owed and the costly consequences of an equal amount in damages and civil penalties.”

Caring Hearts Health Care Services is a business providing in-home care services for individual, personal needs and necessities. Its services include daily living care, meal arrangement, medication management, dementia care and other medical disability support, and safety supervision. The company serves clients in Philadelphia and Delaware counties.

The FLSA requires that most employees in the U.S. be paid at least the federal minimum wage for all hours worked and overtime pay at not less than time and one-half their regular rate of pay for all hours worked over 40 in a workweek. 

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 their immigration status. The division can speak with callers in more than 200 languages through the agency’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Help ensure hours worked and pay are accurate by downloading the department’s Android and iOS Timesheet App for free, available in English and Spanish.

Su v. Caring Hearts HealthCare Services, LLC, Edith Walters-Wilson and Cristine Maycole

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.