WEST COVINA, CA – The U.S. Department of Labor and a Fontana pallet manufacturing company have reached an agreement to resolve overtime and recordkeeping violations of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The agreement requires Forest Green Products Inc. to pay $289,215 in back wages and liquidated damages to 60 employees.

Investigators with the Department’s Wage and Hour Division found that Forest Green Products Inc. failed to pay required overtime rates when its employees worked more than 40 hours per week.

In its investigation, the Division determined that Forest Green paid employees only up to 40 hours per week on the payroll, with any additional hours being paid at straight time, in cash, off the books.  The employer also failed to maintain an accurate record of the number of hours employees worked, as required by federal law.

“Failing to pay hard-earned overtime hurts employees, and places other employers at a competitive disadvantage,” said Wage and Hour District Director Danny Pasquil, in West Covina. “Agreements like these demonstrate our determination to level the playing field for law-abiding employers.”

The FLSA requires that employees receive one-and-one-half times their regular rates of pay when they work more than 40 hours in a work week and that employers maintain adequate and accurate records of employees’ wages and work hours.

Employees 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. More information is available online at http://www.dol.gov/whd/.

SEATTLE, WA – The U.S. Department of Labor has reached a settlement with a Washington tree fruit grower to resolve violations of the H-2A non-immigrant visa program under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). The settlement requires Tonasket-based Northwestern LLC to pay $60,000 in back wages to 112 employees, and an additional $18,000 in penalties to the Department.

Northwestern Orchards LLC failed to hire a qualified U.S. applicant, in violation of H-2A requirements. The grower also failed to pay prevailing H-2A contractual wages to the workers covered under the temporary employment certification application.

“Any employer seeking H-2A workers must be ready and willing to hire qualified U.S. applicants,” said the Department’s Wage and Hour Division District Director Jeanette Aranda, in Seattle. “This case demonstrates our commitment to safeguard American jobs, level the playing field for law-abiding employers, and protect vulnerable workers from being paid less than they are legally owed or otherwise working under substandard conditions.”

The Division’s Seattle District Office conducted the investigation. Attorney Cheryl Adams of the San Francisco Regional Office of the Solicitor litigated the case for the Division. For more information about the H-2A program, contact the Division’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Information also is available at http://www.dol.gov/whd/.

HARTFORD, CT – The U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut has entered a consent judgment and ordered a Fairfield restaurant and its owner to pay $244,930 in back wages and liquidated damages to eight employees, as part of a settlement with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division.

Division investigators found that Vinny’s of Fairfield Inc. – which does business as Vinny’s Ale House – and owner Ernst H. Buggisch failed to pay required overtime to back-of-the-house employees when they worked more than 40 hours per week. In the settlement, the company also agreed to pay $2,992 in penalties for violations of the overtime, minimum wage and recordkeeping requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

The investigation determined that the employer paid the employees overtime at straight time rates, in cash, instead of time-and-one-half their regular pay rates as the law requires. The employer also failed to maintain accurate time records, failed to produce records of the cash payments, maintained two sets of time records, and provided inaccurate records to investigators. In addition, the employer intimidated employees during the investigation, coaching them to lie to investigators. The settlement prohibits the defendants from future FLSA wage, recordkeeping, and retaliation violations.

“This settlement is about getting these employees the wages they legally earned,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director David Gerrain. “The Division encourages all employers to access the many compliance resources we offer, and avoid the liabilities that can come with breaking the law.”

“Businesses that violate the law gain a competitive advantage over law-abiding employers,” said the Department’s Regional Solicitor Michael Felsen, in Boston. “We will vigorously enforce the law to level the playing field for companies that play by the rules and to safeguard employees’ hard-earned wages.”

The Division’s Hartford District Office conducted the investigation and Wage and Hour Counsel Merle D. Hyman of the Department’s regional Office of the Solicitor litigated the case.

Employees 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. More information is available online at http://www.dol.gov/whd/.

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Acosta v. Vinny’s of Fairfield LLC, doing business as Vinny’s Ale House, Ernst H. Buggisch
Case Number:  3:17-cv-02024-AWT

BUFFALO, NY – On Jan. 20, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division will participate in a U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) and Service Corps of Retired Executives’ (SCORE) event to provide information and resources to entrepreneurs and small business owners on starting or growing a small business. 

The “Straight Talk 2018” seminar, sponsored by the SBA’s Buffalo District Office and SCORE’s Buffalo Niagara chapter, will be held at Buffalo Niagara Convention Center, Convention Center Plaza, in Buffalo, from 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

Division representatives will provide assistance in understanding and complying with the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act, Service Contract Act, and Davis-Bacon and Related acts. These laws govern issues including minimum wage, overtime, child labor, prevailing wages, and family/medical leave.

For further information about the seminar, contact SBA at 716-551-4301. To register online, please visit WNY Straight Talk.

VIDALIA, GA – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division will host free compliance assistance seminars for Georgia agricultural employers and farm labor contractors to promote compliance with the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act (MSPA) and the labor provisions of the H-2A temporary worker program.

The first seminar will be held Tuesday, Jan. 23, beginning at 8:30 a.m. EST, at AmericInn, 155 Mose Coleman Drive, Vidalia 30474. The Agency will host a second seminar on Thursday, Feb. 22, beginning at 8:00 a.m. EST, at the Omega Club House, 5471 Alabama Ave., Omega, GA 31775. To register or to request more information about the seminars, contact Rachel Mast-Matos at 678-237-0540 or via email at mast-matos.rachel@dol.gov.

Topics for discussion at both meetings will include housing and transportation, employee work hours, wage rates, and record-keeping requirements.

Information about federal labor laws enforced by the Wage and Hour Division is available in English and Spanish by calling the division’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243), or by visiting its website.

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – Following a U.S. Department of Labor investigation, a Riverside, California, company has paid $944,000 in back wages and damages to 1,069 employees working as drywall installers and painters. The investigation found that the employees routinely worked more than 40 hours per week without receiving any required overtime pay.

West Coast Drywall and Company Inc., and the Department’s Wage and Hour Division reached a settlement, which was signed by a U.S. District Court judge for the Central District of California. As part of the settlement, the company agreed to pay an additional $50,500 in civil penalties for violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

“The Wage and Hour Division continues to ensure that employers pay employees properly for all the hours that they work, including overtime when they work more than 40 hours in a week,” said Wage and Hour District Director Danny Pasquil. “This investigation clearly demonstrates the Department’s continued commitment to enforcing a level playing field for all employers.”

The Wage and Hour Division found that the drywall company paid the employees only piece rates when they worked beyond 40 hours in a week. Employees paid on a piece rate are compensated per unit they produce and are eligible for overtime when they work more than 40 hours per week. The investigation also found that the company failed to pay employees for time spent attending required monthly safety meetings, and failed to keep accurate records of work hours, both in violation of FLSA requirements.

Employees 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. More information is available online at http://www.dol.gov/whd/.

DENVER, CO – Parkside Landscape Inc. has paid $524,063 in back wages to 53 employees and $26,104 in penalties to resolve violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and H-2B non-agricultural visa program provisions. The violations were found during an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division.

The Wage and Hour Division’s H-2B nonimmigrant visa program investigation determined that back wages and penalties were owed because the company failed to pay employees the wages offered in the approved H-2B labor certification and the job order they filed with the Department when applying for permission to hire the foreign workers. Penalties were also owed because the employer failed to provide required earning statements, comply with safety requirements for employer-provided transportation, and provide a copy of the job order to employees at the time they applied for their visas. Violations of the overtime provisions of the FLSA resulted when the employer paid eight employees straight time for hours they worked beyond 40 in a workweek.   

“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 similarly employed U.S. workers,” said the Division’s Southwest Regional Administrator Betty Campbell. “The program safeguards American employees against displacement while protecting vulnerable foreign workers from being paid less than the prevailing wage or otherwise working under substandard conditions.”

In consent findings between the Department and Parkside Landscaping, the employer, in addition to paying owed H-2B back wages and the penalty, agreed to comply with all the requirements of the H-2B provisions under the Immigration and Nationality Act.

The H-2B nonimmigrant visa program permits employers to hire nonimmigrants to perform nonagricultural labor or services in the United States. The employment must be of a temporary nature for a limited period of time such as a one-time occurrence, or a seasonal, peak load, or intermittent need. The H-2B program requires the employer to attest to the Department that it will offer a wage that equals or exceeds the highest of the prevailing wage, applicable federal minimum wage, the state minimum wage, or local minimum wage to the H-2B nonimmigrant worker for the occupation in the area of intended employment during the entire period of the approved H-2B labor certification. The H-2B program also establishes certain recruitment and displacement standards in order to protect similarly employed U.S. workers.

For more information about federal wage laws, or for information about attending a training event, call the Wage and Hour Division’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243).

WASHINGTON, DC – On Dec. 19, 2017, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit became the fourth federal appellate court to expressly reject the U.S. Department of Labor’s six-part test for determining whether interns and students are employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). 

The Department of Labor today clarified that going forward, the Department will conform to these appellate court rulings by using the same “primary beneficiary” test that these courts use to determine whether interns are employees under the FLSA. The Wage and Hour Division will update its enforcement policies to align with recent case law, eliminate unnecessary confusion among the regulated community, and provide the Division’s investigators with increased flexibility to holistically analyze internships on a case-by-case basis.

SEATTLE, WA – The U.S. Department of Labor has reached an agreement with a Tacoma property management company that requires the employer to pay 71 employees $255,793 in back wages to resolve Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) violations.

Investigators with the Department’s Wage and Hour Division established that Dobler Management Company, Inc. failed to pay the minimum wage for all hours worked by its on-site property managers, maintenance technicians, and other on-site staff working at client properties. The Department’s investigation further revealed that the workers were not paid the overtime premium of one-and-one half times the regular rate for all hours worked beyond 40 in the workweek. Instead, many employees were paid a salary that was less than the minimum and overtime wage due under federal law. The company also failed to keep records of hours worked by their on-site managers, which averaged between 42 hours and 46 hours per week. 

“Thanks to this settlement, dozens of workers will receive their rightfully earned wages,” said Wage and Hour Division Director Jeanette Aranda, in Seattle. “No employer should gain a competitive advantage by failing to pay its workers in compliance with the law. We urge all employers to make use of the tools our agency offers to explain their obligations and help them avoid violations.”

In addition to paying the back wages, Dobler agreed to make numerous changes to its operations to ensure future compliance, including creating a new position for a human resources employee, and establishing work assignments with specific “on-duty and off-duty” time to more accurately track hours worked.  

Dobler manages approximately 65 properties throughout the Puget Sound area. 

Employees 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. More information is available online at http://www.dol.gov/whd/.

LOS ANGELES, CA – Investigations in Southern California by the U.S. Department of Labor have found $1.6 million in back wages and liquidated damages due to 1,377 garment industry employees since January. Those amounts resulted from violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) found in 94 percent of 129 Wage and Hour Division investigations of garment facilities in the region during that period.

The Department also assessed an additional $36,000 in civil money penalties associated with those investigations.

Many of the investigations disclosed employees paid well below the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour, with some receiving as little as $4.27 per hour. Investigators also found employers often failed to pay employees overtime at time-and-one-half of their regular rates of pay when they worked more than 40 hours in a week, as required by the FLSA. 

Department officials continue to meet with retailers to encourage them to avoid non-compliant manufacturers and to buy only from suppliers that comply with federal labor laws.

“In addition to our outreach efforts in this industry, we continue our investigations in Southern California to ensure local garment employees receive their rightfully earned pay,” said Wage and Hour Division Regional Administrator Ruben Rosalez, in San Francisco. “Unfortunately, we continue to find wage violations at nine out of every 10 facilities we investigate. Manufacturers that fail to pay their employees minimum wage and overtime have a negative impact on the garment industry by unfairly undercutting their competition.”

Investigation findings in 2017 include:

• CAL TM, Inc. will pay $41,742 to 46 employees after an investigation found that employees were not paid overtime and in many cases earned less than the federal minimum wage.  Records were falsified to make it appear that employees were paid hourly.
• ANC Fashion, Inc. will pay $64,906 to 269 employees after investigators found that employees worked over 40 hours per week without receiving overtime pay. 
• HJ Fashion will pay $21,023 to 21 employees after an investigation disclosed the employer failed to pay employees the federal minimum wage and overtime. Investigators also found the employer kept no time records and paid employees in cash only.

Employees 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. More information is available online at http://www.dol.gov/whd/.