WHO:             U.S. Department of Labor 

WHAT:          2024 Forum: 

                        “Ensuring a Strong Foundation of Compliance with Federal Labor Laws in Construction”

WHEN:          May 8-9, 2024

                       9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. CDT

WHERE:       No cost to attend this online event. Registration is required for each day individually. 

Register to attend the forum on May 8           

Register to attend the forum on May 9

Background: The Department of Labor in Dallas will host a two-day online forum on compliance with federal laws governing wages, safety and other workplace issues. The event will include presentations and panel discussions with representatives from across the department, including those from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Benefits Security Administration, Employment and Training Administration, Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, Office of Labor-Management Standards, Occupational Safety Health Administration, Veterans’ Employment Training Service, Wage and Hour Division and the Women’s Bureau.

In addition, representatives from the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the IRS, the Small Business Administration, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the National Labor Relations Board will participate. Presentations will range between 30 and 90 minutes.                               

QUOTE: “The Department of Labor has responsibility for protecting the rights of our nation’s workforce ensuring a safe and healthy workplace while assisting employers to understand their responsibilities under the law,” said Wage and Hour Division Regional Administrator Betty Campbell in Dallas. “That’s why the department offers workers and employers the tools and guidance they need to understand federal regulations at events like this, in our regional offices and through our many of the department’s web sites.”

Simultaneous Spanish translation will be offered. To request an accommodation or for inquiries about accessibility, please contact sabik.william@dol.gov by May 2, 2024.

See the Forum’s agenda.

Forum flyer.

Lea en Español 

Employer name:       

John Mirza Landscaping Inc.  

Employer address:    

49 Spring Valley Road

Montvale, NJ 07645 

Investigation findings: Investigators with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division found the employer failed to pay non-exempt landscapers the overtime premium of time and one-half employees’ hourly rates for hours worked over 40 in a workweek, in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act. 

Back wages recovered: $127,496 to 20 employees

Liquidated damages recovered: $127,496 to 20 employees

Quote: “The onus is on landscaping employers to understand federal labor laws and not shortchange employees' hard-earned wages by paying straight time hourly rates for overtime hours worked,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Paula Ruffin in Mountainside, New Jersey.

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.

Employer name:       Day-Debut Mechanical Inc.

Employer address:    22421 Goshen School Road, Gaithersburg, MD 20882

Investigation findings: An investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division determined that Day-Debut Mechanical Inc., a federal subcontractor on the Paxton Apartments construction project in the District of Columbia, misclassified nine sheet metal workers and insulators as laborers. By doing so, the employer did not pay them the proper prevailing wages and fringe benefits in violation of the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts. The division also determined Day-Debut had incomplete payroll records, submitted falsified payrolls and failed to provide required records, all violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Another subcontractor on the project, Titan Mechanical Inc. of Manassas Park, Virginia, paid the owed back wages and fringe benefits after Day-Debut Mechanical was unreachable after the division’s investigation. Titan had hired Day-Debut Mechanical to complete work on the project, an affordable housing development slated for completion in spring 2024 with funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Recoveries: $20,921 to back wages and $13,221 in fringe benefits for nine employees.

Quote: “Contractors on projects supported by federal funds must classify workers correctly and pay them their full wages and benefits or face costly consequences for not complying with the law,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director John DuMont in Pittsburgh.

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. Help ensure hours worked and pay are accurate by downloading the department’s Android and iOS Timesheet App for free in English or Spanish. 

BIRMINGHAM, AL – A series of U.S. Department of Labor investigations at seven Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers franchise locations in Alabama has found the operator employed 149 children under age 16 to work longer and later than legally permitted by federal child labor provisions and tasked a 15-year-old child to illegally operate a manual deep fryer.

Investigators with the department’s Wage and Hour Division determined that locations, owned by Mark Houghton, employed children – ages 14 and 15 – to work more than three hours on a school day, after 7 p.m. between the day after Labor Day and May 31, and after 9 p.m. between June 1 and Labor Day. They also learned the employer employed a 15-year-old child to use a fryer without an automatic device for lowering and raising its baskets, a prohibited occupation by law. 

“Positive and safe first work experiences can allow young people to develop skills, earn money and learn what it means to be part of the labor force, but a job should never endanger a child’s well-being,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Kenneth Stripling in Birmingham, Alabama. “The Fair Labor Standards Act restricts the hours 14- and 15-year-olds can work and identifies dangerous jobs that are prohibited for workers under 18-years-old.”

The department assessed the employer with $119,029 in civil money penalties to resolve its child labor violations at the following Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers locations: 

In fiscal year 2023, the division found child labor violations involving 5,792 children nationwide, an increase of more than 150 percent since 2018. To address those violations, the division assessed employers more than $8 million in civil money penalties.

Founded in 2002 in Wichita, Kansas, Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers was acquired by a private equity firm, Thompson Street Capital Partners in 2021. The company now has more than 500 locations in 36 U.S. states and Canada. 

The Department of Labor’s YouthRules! initiative promotes positive and safe work experiences for teens by providing information about protections for young workers to youth, parents, employers and educators. Through this initiative, the department and its partners promote developmental work experiences that help prepare young workers to enter the workforce. The Wage and Hour Division has also published Seven Child Labor Best Practices for Employers to help employers comply with the law. Learn more about the Fair Labor Standards Act’s child labor provisions. 

The Wage and Hour Division offers confidential compliance assistance to anyone with questions about how to comply with the law by calling the agency’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Visit the agency’s website to learn more about the Wage and Hour Division. Download the agency’s new Timesheet App for iPhone and Android devices – free and available in English and Spanish – to ensure hours and pay are accurate.

WEST COVINA, CA – Employees of five California poultry processing companies in La Puente and City of Industry may be owed a share of more than $3.8 million in back wages and damages recovered on their behalf by the U.S. Department of Labor.

The department’s Wage and Hour Division is seeking people employed by The Exclusive Poultry, Meza Poultry, Valtierra Poultry, Sullon Poultry or Nollus’s Poultry whose owner, Tony Bran, failed to pay the full wages owed to workers. People employed by these companies between Aug. 1, 2020, and Sept. 28, 2023, should contact the division’s West Covina District Office at (626) 732-1070 to determine if they are owed back wages and damages.

The effort to locate these workers follows a consent judgment the department obtained in November 2023 in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California to resolve the department’s lawsuit against Bran. In its action, the department alleged Bran and his companies violated child labor laws, failed to pay workers required wages and retaliated against employees who cooperated with investigators by firing them. 

“We must ensure these workers receive all of the wages and damages owed to them,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Daniel Pasquil in West Covina, California. “While the division and the Office of the Solicitor have worked tirelessly to hold Tony Bran accountable, our work is not complete until the workers receive their share of the $3.8 million we successfully recovered.”

One of Bran’s companies, The Exclusive Poultry, supplied chicken products to retailers and distributors such as ALDI, Grocery Outlet, Nestle Purina, SYSCO Corp., Ralphs Grocery Company and Royal Canin U.S.A. Inc.

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 new Timesheet App for iOS and Android devices – free and available in English and Spanish – to track hours and pay. 

This news release is also available in Spanish, Mam, and Q’eqchi’. 

Employer:       Circle of Love Home Care LLC 

Investigation site:  14102 Church St., Williston, SC 29853

Investigation findings: Investigators with the department’s Wage and Hour Division found a South Carolina home healthcare services provider misclassified workers as independent contractors and, by doing so, paid employees straight-time rates for all hours worked over 40 instead of the time-and-a-half premium for overtime hours as required by the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Back Wages Recovered: $37,340 for 35 workers.

Quote: “Home healthcare workers play vital roles in our communities, caring for the needs of people who depend on their compassion and dedication,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Jamie Benefiel in Columbia, South Carolina. “Misclassifying employees as independent contractors denies workers access to critical benefits and protections, including overtime, minimum wage, and family and medical leave. Our investigation exposed the disheartening truth that Circle of Love Home Care denied workers their rightfully earned overtime wages.”

Background: Circle of Love Home Care LLC provides care to individuals with disabilities and older adults. 

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 the regular rate of pay for all hours worked over 40 in a workweek. Learn more about the Wage and Hour Division and workers’ rights, including a search tool to use if you think you may be owed back wages collected by the division. 

Workers and employers alike can help ensure hours worked and pay are accurate by downloading the department’s Android and iPhone Timesheet App available for free in English or Spanish. Employers can contact the Wage and Hour Division at its toll-free number, 1-866-4-US-WAGE. Learn more about the Wage and Hour Division.

BOSTON. El Departamento de Trabajo de EE. UU. recuperó USD 518,446 en salarios atrasados para 54 trabajadores tras haber descubierto que un subcontratista de New Hampshire no pagó los salarios vigentes ni las tasas de beneficios a los trabajadores de la construcción en un proyecto financiado por el Estado federal en el Natick Soldier Systems Center en Natick.

La División de Horas y Salarios del departamento determinó que Ecostructive LLC, bajo el nombre comercial Ecostructive Pro Builders, infringió la Ley Davis-Bacon (DBA) al no haber cumplido con el pago de los salarios requeridos ni los beneficios a los trabajadores. La división también descubrió que el empleador, con sede en Nashua, había falsificado los registros certificados de nóminas y no había creado ni mantenido nóminas ni registros básicos precisos, no había pagado las horas extra correspondientes, como exige la Ley de Horas de Trabajo y Normas de Seguridad Ocupacional en Contratos (CWHSSA), y no había permitido a los empleados acumular una hora de licencia por enfermedad renumerada por cada 30 horas trabajadas en un contrato cubierto por el Estado federal como exige la Orden Ejecutiva 13706.

El acuerdo de solución de la división resuelve las infracciones a la DBA, la CWHSSA y la Orden Ejecutiva 13706 de Ecostructive Pro Builders. Dadas las infracciones del empleador a la Ley Davis-Bacon, el departamento lo inhabilitó para trabajar en cualquier contrato federal durante tres años. 

“Al obtener la inhabilitación de Ecostructive Pro Builders para participar en contratos federales durante tres años, el Departamento de Trabajo de EE. UU. ha adoptado una postura firme contra el incumplimiento por parte del empleador de su obligación de brindar a los empleados los salarios y beneficios vigentes, tal y como lo exigen las leyes”, declaró el director de distrito de la División de Horas y Salarios, Carlos Matos, en Boston. “La División de Horas y Salarios no tolerará a ningún contratista que falsifique los registros certificados de nóminas y los hará responsables de esto. El cumplimiento estricto de los requisitos de los salarios vigentes garantiza que las inversiones federales se traduzcan en la creación de buenos puestos de trabajo”.

Ecostructive Pro Builders es una constructora que se dedica, principalmente, a la instalación de paneles de yeso. El contratista principal de Natick, CTA Construction Manager LLC de Waltham, pagó los salarios atrasados mencionados en la resolución administrativa de este caso.

La División de Horas y Salarios ofrece numerosos recursos tanto para empleadores como para trabajadores, incluida información sobre la Ley Davis-Bacon y Leyes Relacionadas y la Orden Ejecutiva 13706, por la que se establece la licencia por enfermedad paga para los contratistas federales, la línea de ayuda gratuita de la agencia al 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243) y los seminarios web que se dictan a lo largo del año. Los trabajadores y empleadores pueden llamar a la división de manera confidencial si tienen preguntas, sin importar su estatus de inmigración, y la división puede hablar con las personas que llaman en más de 200 idiomas. Obtenga más información sobre la División de Horas y Salarios, incluida una herramienta de búsqueda que puede usar si cree que se le deben salarios atrasados cobrados por la división.

Descargue la aplicación de planilla de horas de la agencia para dispositivos iOS y Android, ahora disponible en inglés y español, para garantizar que las horas y el pago sean precisos.

Este comunicado de prensa también está disponible en inglés.     

BOSTON – The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered $518,446 in back wages for 54 workers after finding a New Hampshire subcontractor did not pay prevailing wage and fringe benefits to construction workers on a federally funded project at the Natick Soldier Systems Center in Natick.

The department’s Wage and Hour Division determined Ecostructive LLC, doing business as Ecostructive Pro Builders, violated the Davis-Bacon Act by failing to pay employees the required wage rate and benefits. The division also discovered the Nashua-based employer falsified certified payroll records and had not created and maintained accurate payroll and basic records, failed to pay proper overtime as the Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act requires and did not allow employees to accrue one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked on or in connection with a federally covered contract, as Executive Order 13706 requires.

The division’s settlement resolves Ecostructive Pro Builders’ DBA, CWHSSA and Executive Order 13706 violations. Given the employer’s Davis-Bacon Act infractions, the department has debarred the employer from working on any federal contract for three years. 

“By obtaining debarment of Ecostructive Pro Builders from federal contracts for three years, the U.S. Department of Labor has taken a strong stance against the employer’s failure to provide employees with the prevailing wages and benefits as the laws require,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Carlos Matos in Boston. “The Wage and Hour Division will not tolerate any contractors who falsify certified payroll records and will hold them accountable. Strong enforcement of prevailing wage requirements ensures that federal investments result in the creation of good jobs.”

Ecostructive Pro Builders is a construction company engaged primarily in drywall installation. The Natick project’s prime contractor, CTA Construction Manager LLC of Waltham paid the back wages specified in this case’s administrative settlement.

The Wage and Hour Division offers numerous resources for employers and workers alike, including information about the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts and Executive Order 13706, Establishing Paid Sick Leave for Federal Contractors, the agency’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243) and webinars that take place throughout the year. Workers and employers can call the division confidentially with questions, regardless of immigration status, and the division can speak with callers in more than 200 languages. Learn more about the Wage and Hour Division, including a search tool to use if you think you may be owed back wages collected by the division.

Download the agency’s free Timesheet App for Android and iOS devices, available in English and Spanish, to help track work hours and pay.

LIBERTYTOWN, MD – Individuals employed by a Libertytown plumbing subcontractor who worked on a Woodyard Station construction project may be eligible to receive their share of $156,495 in wages and fringe benefits recovered by a U.S. Department of Labor investigation.

The department’s Wage and Hour Division determined that Day C Soul Mechanical Inc. denied full pay and fringe benefits to 48 workers they employed from April 8, 2022, through September 2023 to work on the federally funded affordable housing project in Clinton. Investigators found Day C Soul Mechanical did not pay the prevailing wage rates and fringe benefits, in violation of the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts, and failed to maintain accurate payroll records, violating the DBRA and the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Air conditioning subcontractor Charles A. Klein & Sons Inc. of Sykesville, who hired Day C Soul, paid $124,022 in back wages and $32,473 in owed fringe benefits after the plumbing subcontractor refused to comply and pay the monies owed. In March 2024, the department debarred Day C Soul Mechanical and owner Oscar Jimenez-Medrano, forbidding them from bidding on federally funded construction projects for three years.

Day C Soul Mechanical employees who believe the company owes them money related to the period of this investigation should contact the division’s district office in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, at 570-826-6316.  

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development provided funding to Prince George’s County, Maryland, for construction of Woodyard Station, a senior living housing project that opened in October 2023.

Day C Soul Mechanical Inc. provides commercial plumbing services in Maryland, Washington D.C. and Virginia. 

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. Help ensure hours worked and pay are accurate by downloading the department’s Android and iOS Timesheet App for free in English or Spanish. 

Este comunicado de prensa está disponible en Español.

IONIA, MI ‒ The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered a total of $110,000 in back wages and liquidated damages for six employees of an Ionia hotel, including two who worked there for more than 40 hours per week for nearly 10 months without pay. The couple thought they were working in exchange for free lodging at the hotel, but the hotel still charged them for their stay on some nights they worked.

An investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division determined Ionia Hotel Business Inc., operating as American Inn and Suites, and its owner Manhal Kashat, did not pay four workers minimum wage or overtime and paid the couple nothing from March 2020 to December 2020. Following the investigation, department attorneys filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan in January 2023.

On April 3, 2024, Judge Paul L. Maloney signed a consent judgment submitted by the department, Ionia Hotel Business and Kashat. The consent judgment requires the company to pay the back wages and agreed to forgive workers’ hotel bill. The company has also agreed to future compliance with the Fair Labor Standards Act and to provide employees information on wage laws and their rights. 

“Complying with federal laws protecting workers’ wages and other rights is never negotiable,” explained Wage and Hour Division District Director Mary O’Rourke in Grand Rapids. “Workers must be paid at least minimum wage and compensated for overtime unless they meet very specific criteria. We encourage employers and workers with questions about workers’ rights to contact the Wage and Hour Division for guidance. Our assistance is available in many languages.”

“The Fair Labor Standards Act has specific requirements for employers seeking to take a credit for providing lodging to their employees,” added Regional Solicitor of Labor Christine Heri in Chicago. “This case demonstrates the department’s commitment to holding employers legally accountable when they fail to meet those requirements or ignore their other responsibilities required by law.”

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

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