BOSTON – The U.S. Department of Labor has secured a consent judgment in federal court ordering two Gloucester-based fish processors – Zeus Packing Inc. and Cape Ann Seafood Exchange Inc. – and the companies’ owner Kristian Kristensen to pay over $200,000 in liquidated damages to more than 100 employees to resolve violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

An investigation by the department’s Wage and Hour Division found the defendants violated the FLSA’s overtime and recordkeeping requirements from October 2011 through September 2014, and owed 132 employees $203,998 in back wages plus an equal amount in liquidated damages.

The companies and Kristensen paid the back wages in December 2015, but refused to pay the damages and civil money penalties assessed for the violations. As a result, the department filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts in March 2016 to recover those amounts.  After almost a year of litigation and negotiation, the defendants agreed to settle the matter by consent judgment.

In addition to requiring payment of $203,998 in liquidated damages covering the investigative period, the judgment also orders the defendants to pay $7,215 in back wages plus an equal amount in liquidated damages to the employees, on account of violations committed after the close of the investigation, and $29,500 in civil money penalties to the department. The judgment also restrains the defendants from future violations of the FLSA’s overtime and recordkeeping requirements.

“Employers are best served by recognizing that, as a general rule, if they fail to pay workers the proper minimum wage and overtime pay, they will be liable to pay double,” said Michael Felsen, regional solicitor for New England.  “As this case demonstrates, the department takes that employer responsibility under the law seriously.”

“The Wage and Hour Division is committed to providing companies with the tools they need to understand and comply with a variety of labor laws,” said Mark Watson, the division’s northeast regional director.

The division offers useful resources ranging from an interactive Employment Laws Assistance for Workers and Small Businesses advisor to a complete library of free, downloadable workplace posters. Information is available in a variety of languages. In addition, the division’s Community Outreach and Resource Planning Specialists conduct ongoing outreach activities to educate businesses, professional associations, labor groups and others  with  easy-to-understand information about rights and responsibilities.

The division’s Boston District Office conducted the original investigation. Attorneys James Glickman and Sheila Gholkar litigated the case for the department.

For more information about federal wage laws administered by the Wage and Hour Division, call the agency's toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Information also is available at http://www.dol.gov/whd/.

# # #

Hugler v. Zeus Packing Inc., Cape Ann Seafood Exchange Inc. and Kristian Kristensen
Civil Action Number:  16-10442-DPW

PHILADELPHIA – The U.S. Department of Labor and a Philadelphia commercial printer have entered into a consent judgment that requires the company to pay $273,892 in back wages and liquidated damages to a group of temporary employees to resolve past violations of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act.

Under the agreement, back wages will be paid to 136 temporary employees who worked as machine operators and general laborers at Bartash Printing, Inc. An investigation by the department’s Wage and Hour Division found violations of the FLSA’s minimum wage, overtime, and recordkeeping provisions.

Bartash used a temporary help agency, VQ Management, Inc. – doing business as Managed Staffing and/or Best Staff – to acquire the workers, but failed to ensure they were paid the legally required wages. The workers were paid $6.25/per hour in cash, below the required federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. Bartash also failed to ensure the workers received the required overtime payments when they worked beyond 40 hours in a workweek. Bartash also failed to maintain the required payroll records for these workers.

“Although Bartash acquired workers through a temporary agency, it still had a legal responsibility as a joint employer to ensure that the workers received proper wages as the law requires,” said James Cain, director of the Wage and Hour Division’s Philadelphia District Office. “The resolution of this case should inform other employers who may acquire employees through a temporary help agency – it illustrates their responsibility to ensure that these temporary workers are being paid in compliance with the law.”

Bartash Printing specializes in newspaper and magazine publishing, including press, bindery and mail operations. In addition to the back wages and liquidated damages, the company has agreed to pay a civil monetary penalty of $31,350.

The Wage and Hour Division is committed to providing companies with the tools they need to understand and comply with the variety of labor laws the division enforces. It offers useful resources ranging from an interactive Employment Laws Assistance for Workers and Small Businesses advisor to a complete library of free, downloadable workplace posters. In addition, the division’s Community Outreach and Resource Planning Specialists conduct ongoing outreach activities to educate stakeholders, including employers, employees, business and labor groups and professional associations, among others, with accessible, easy-to-understand information about their rights and responsibilities.

The FLSA requires that covered, nonexempt employees be paid at least the minimum wage of $7.25 per hour for all hours worked, plus time and one-half their regular rates, including commissions, bonuses and incentive pay, for hours worked beyond 40 per week. Employers also must maintain accurate time and payroll records.

For more information about federal wage laws administered by the division, call the agency’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Information also is available at http://www.dol.gov/whd/.

# # #

Editor’s Note: A change was made in the third paragraph to clarify the responsibility for wages.

CUYAHOGA FALLS, Ohio – A federal judge has ordered Cathedral Buffet and its owner to pay $388,507 in back wages and damages to 235 “volunteers” who worked at the Cuyahoga Falls restaurant. An investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division found violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act’s minimum wage, overtime, recordkeeping and other provisions.

U.S. District Judge for the Northern District of Ohio Benita Pearson wrote that testimony at a trial in late 2016 supported the department’s findings that the owner of Cathedral Buffet, televangelist Ernest Angley, and managers encouraged members of Angley’s church – Grace Cathedral – to work at the restaurant without pay. The for-profit restaurant used volunteers to save money, and the volunteers felt pressured to provide free labor, meaning they should have been paid for their work, Pearson wrote in her findings entered on March 29, 2017.

George Victory, district director for the Wage and Hour Division in Columbus, said that “the buffet’s constant solicitation of volunteer labor, the company’s admission that the use of volunteer labor was intended to save money, and the volunteers’ feelings of pressure to work at the restaurant shows they were actually employees. That is unacceptable under the law. There are many instances, however, in which the use of volunteers is acceptable. Organizations with questions about compliance should contact us.”

The investigation found FLSA violations that included:

• Improperly treating certain workers as volunteers and paying them no wages. These unpaid volunteers cooked, cleaned, waited tables, stocked and maintained the buffet line, and served as cashiers.
• Classifying 235 employees as unpaid volunteers, denying them the $7.25 hourly minimum wage.
• Paying four managers weekly salaries that failed to meet the $7.25 per hour federal minimum wage, and failing to pay overtime after 40 hours. The employer incorrectly categorized these managers as exempt from the FLSA’s overtime requirement.

The overtime and other FLSA violations were resolved in a partial consent judgment entered by the court on Oct. 26, 2016.

Cathedral Buffet and Angley have 60 days to appeal the court’s decision.

In 1999, the division investigated the buffet restaurant and it later paid more than $37,000 in back wages to employees improperly classified as volunteers. In 2012, Angley decided to again use volunteer labor, the Wage and Hour Division found.

Workers and employers can get more information about federal wage laws administered by the division by calling the agency’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Workers can also file complaints confidentially. More information is available online at http://www.dol.gov/whd/.

Who: U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division
U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration
National Labor Relations Board
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs
U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration
U.S. Department of Labor’s Veterans’ Employment and Training Service
U.S. Small Business Administration
Louisiana Workforce Commission’s Office of Unemployment Insurance Administration

What: Prevailing wage seminar in New Orleans

When: April 11-13, 2017

Where: Sheraton New Orleans Hotel
500 Canal St.
New Orleans, LA 70130

Background: The Wage and Hour Division’s Prevailing Wage Seminar is a free, three-day compliance training event designed for regional stakeholders (private contractors, state agencies, unions, federal agencies and workers). At these seminars, conference participants will learn about:

• Davis-Bacon and Related Acts.
• McNamara O’Hara Service Contract Act.
• Executive Order 13495 “Nondisplacement of Qualified Workers.”
• Executive Order 13658 “Establishing a Minimum Wage for Contractors.”
• The process of obtaining wage determinations and adding classifications.
• Compliance assistance and enforcement processes.
• The process for appealing wage rates, coverage, and compliance determinations.

Stakeholders and employers who wish to attend this event need to register here.

For any questions please send email to: WHD-PWS@dol.gov.

Who: U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration
Wage and Hour Division
Employee Benefits Security Administration
Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs
Veterans’ Employment and Training Service

What: U.S. Labor Department Employer Forum

When: March 28, 2017
8 a.m.-3 p.m. CDT

Where: Francis Tuttle Technology Center
Business and Industry Services
12777 N. Rockwell Ave.
Oklahoma City, OK 73142

Background: The U.S. Department of Labor will host an employer forum to provide free compliance assistance and training in key areas affecting companies of all sizes. Representatives from the Employee Benefits Security Administration, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, Veterans’ Employment and Training Service and the Wage and Hour Division will be on-hand to provide area employers, company managers, human resources professionals and others with the resources and training needed to comply with federal requirements.

The forum will offer a “one-stop” opportunity for employers to hear and speak directly with the many of the agencies that support key workplace issues such as wages, recordkeeping, pensions, 401(k) savings plans, safety and health, government contracting, and recruiting and training for former military service members.

The day will begin with a general assembly, followed by breakout sessions featuring the participating agencies. Participation is free, but seating is limited. Registration may be completed online at Eventbrite, by calling Jessica Parker at (405) 595-3469 or e-mailing parker.jessica@dol.gov.

ATLANTA – The National Federal Farm Labor Certificate of Registration Unit will hold two mobile processing events in Florida to register farm labor contractors and employees. This free service is being offered by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division.

On March 29-31, 2017, the certification team will travel to the University of Florida Ag Extension Offices in Sebring and Immokalee. The team will provide assistance to customers – including walk-ins – who need their initial, renewal or amended certificate processed. Certificates will be issued the same day if the applicant’s fingerprints are registered and cleared.

Division staff will assist customers on Wednesday, March 29, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. EDT at 4509 George Blvd., in Sebring.

Staff will be available on Thursday, March 30, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. EDT at 2685 FL-29 in Immokalee, as well as on Friday, March 31, from 8 a.m. to noon EDT.

Customers are encouraged to contact 415-241-3505 or mspaflc@dol.gov to schedule an appointment. The program will not accept any information related to certification by mail at these locations.

ORLANDO, Fla. – The U.S. Department of Labor and two subsidiaries of The Walt Disney Co. have reached an agreement that will provide $3.8 million in back wages to ensure compliance with the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Under the agreement, back wages will be paid to 16,339 employees of the Disney Vacation Club Management Corp. and the Walt Disney Parks and Resorts U.S. Inc., both in Florida. The department’s Wage and Hour Division found violations of minimum wage, overtime and recordkeeping provisions of FLSA.

Disney resorts in Florida deducted a uniform or “costume” expense that caused some employees’ hourly rates to fall below the federal minimum wage, the division said. The resorts also did not compensate employees performing duties during a pre-shift period before the designated start of their shifts, and during a post-shift period. Additionally, the resorts failed to maintain required time and payroll records.

“These violations are not uncommon and are found in other industries, as well,” said Daniel White, district director for the Wage and Hour Division in Jacksonville. “Employers cannot make deductions that take workers below the minimum wage and must accurately track and pay for all the hours their employees work, including any time they work before or after their scheduled shifts. We hope the resolution of this case alerts other employers who may be paying employees in a similar manner, so that they too can correct their practices and operate in compliance with the law.”

“The Disney resorts were very cooperative throughout the investigative process and worked with the division to ensure employees received the pay they earned,” White said.

The division is committed to providing companies with the tools they need to understand and comply with the variety of labor laws the division enforces. It offers useful resources ranging from an interactive Employment Laws Assistance for Workers and Small Businesses advisor to a complete library of free, downloadable workplace posters. In addition, the division’s Community Outreach and Resource Planning Specialists conduct ongoing outreach activities to educate stakeholders, including employers, employees, business and labor groups and professional associations, among others, with accessible, easy-to-understand information about their rights and responsibilities.

For more information about federal wage laws administered by the Wage and Hour Division, call the agency's toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Information also is available at http://www.dol.gov/whd/.

BOSTON – The U.S. Department of Labor and UnWrapped, Inc. have reached a settlement agreement that will allow employees of the Massachusetts sewing factory to recover $890,021 in back wages and liquidated damages to resolve past violations of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act.

An investigation by the department’s Wage and Hour Division found that UnWrapped failed to pay proper overtime rates to 327 piece rate and hourly workers between April 2014 and April 2016, and failed to keep accurate records. The FLSA requires that employees receive one-and-one-half their regular rates of pay when they work more than 40 hours in a work week.

The division’s investigation was part of a joint enforcement effort with the Fair Labor Division of the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office. The state’s investigation identified alleged violations of Massachusetts law involving failure to pay minimum wage, failure to provide earned sick time and retaliation against two workers who cooperated with the investigation, for which the company will pay $293,170.

“This cooperative federal-state effort and the resulting settlements provide these 327 employees, many of them low-wage workers, with wages they earned but were not paid in the first place. They also help level the economic playing field for those companies that comply with the law and pay their employees correctly,” said Mark Watson Jr., the division’s northeast regional administrator.

UnWrapped is a Lowell, Mass., company that produces products, such as mattress covers, pillows, tote bags and custom items, under contract.

Under the terms of the Wage and Hour Division agreement, UnWrapped will complete payment of back wages and damages to the workers by no later than March 15, 2017, and will submit proof of payment to the division. The company has paid a civil money penalty of $8,350 for a child labor violation and also agreed to refrain from retaliation against any employees for filing a complaint or testifying in a matter related to the FLSA.

The Wage and Hour Division is committed to providing employers with the tools they need to understand and comply with the variety of labor laws the division enforces. It offers useful resources ranging from an interactive E-laws advisor to a complete library of free, downloadable workplace posters. In addition, the division’s Community Outreach and Resource Planning Specialists conduct ongoing outreach activities to educate stakeholders, including employers, employees, business and labor groups and professional associations, among others, with accessible, easy-to-understand information about their rights and responsibilities.

Trial Attorney Mark Pedulla of the department’s Boston Regional Solicitor’s Office provided legal support in this matter.

For more information about the FLSA, contact the division’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243) or its Boston District Office at 617-624-6700. Information also is available at http://www.dol.gov/whd/.

Employer: Cintas Fire Protection Services

Sites: 2188 Del Franco St., #70
San Jose, California

Investigation findings: Investigators from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division found that Cintas Fire Protection Services violated the overtime provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act when it failed to pay fire sprinkler installers and testers for some hours they worked that were not billable to clients. These hours included time spent sending email, completing reports and submitting timesheets. The division has cited Cintas several times in the past for similar violations at its locations across the nation.

Resolution: Cintas Fire Protection Services will pay $1.3 million in unpaid wages and damages to 81 workers throughout Northern California and an additional $44,500 in civil penalties. The company also has agreed to stringent monitoring to prevent future violations, including:

• Organizing a nationwide compliance team.
• Establishing a hotline for workers to voice their complaints.
• Reserving the right to terminate managers who allow off the clock work to occur.
• Agreeing to conduct rigorous field audits.

Quote: “Cintas shortchanged employees for some hours they worked that could not be billed to clients, despite us explaining the law to them directly in the past,” said Susana Blanco, director of the Wage and Hour Division office in San Francisco. “The results of this investigation should send a strong message about how seriously the Wage and Hour Division takes compliance. Not only will dozens of workers now receive their long overdue wages, but Cintas has also agreed to a series of measures to prevent these types of violations in the future.”

Information: Cintas Fire Protection Services is a subsidiary of Cintas Corp. Headquartered in Cincinnati. Cintas provides more than 900,000 customers with highly specialized products and services such as corporate identity uniform programs; entrance and logo mats; restroom supplies; promotional products; first aid; safety; fire protection products and services; and industrial carpet and tile cleaning. The company operates more than 400 facilities in North America – including six manufacturing plants and eight distribution centers. For more information about federal wage laws administered by the Wage and Hour Division, call the agency’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Information also is available at http://www.dol.gov/whd/.

NEW YORK – A hotel management company and the company which supplied employees to nine of its New York City hotels have agreed to resolve an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division that found violations of the minimum wage, overtime and recordkeeping requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

The hotels’ management company – Hersha Hospitality Management LP – and Labor for Hire and related companies, which provide employees to work at the hotels, have agreed to take extensive remedial measures designed to ensure future FLSA compliance. In addition, the company that provided the workers has agreed to pay $275,000 in back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages to more than 600 employees.

HHM is one of the nation’s leading hotel management investment and development companies, providing operational support, revenue management and guest service support – for more than 125 hotels in 20 states. It is headquartered in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Labor for Hire is based in Brooklyn. The division determined that under the FLSA, these companies are considered to have jointly employed the workers supplied by Labor for Hire for the nine HHM-managed hotels.

The division found instances where the companies:

• Misclassified some workers as independent contractors rather than employees.
• Failed to pay some employees for hours spent in training.
• Failed to pay some employees overtime for weeks when they worked more than 40 hours, including paying room attendants on a per-room basis without any overtime premium.
• Failed to make and keep adequate records of employees’ daily and weekly hours of work, or their regular or overtime rates of pay.

“This agreement recovers wages and damages for these hundreds of workers, and commits both employers to implementing comprehensive actions to prevent future violations at all hotels for which HHM hires staffing agencies to provide workers,” said David An, district director of the division’s ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­New York City District Office.

“Wage violations negatively impact both employees who are denied their legally earned compensation and those businesses which are put at a competitive disadvantage because they pay their employees correctly in the first place. We do not hesitate to take appropriate steps to rectify them when they occur and pursue outcomes to prevent their recurrence,” said Jeffrey S. Rogoff, the department’s regional solicitor of labor in New York.

As part of the resolution of this case, HHM agrees to take the following actions at all HHM-managed hotels across the nation:

• Ensure that contracts with staffing agencies servicing HHM-managed hotels include provisions requiring compliance with the FLSA.
• Designate a corporate compliance officer, who will oversee a confidential employee complaint hotline and investigate and resolve complaints of wage violations and
• Train managerial employees who work at HHM-managed hotels on topics including how to properly keep time records, how to compute the hours worked by hotel workers, how to calculate and record breaks and meal periods, and on the rights of workers to engage in activities protected by the FLSA without fear of retaliation. 

In addition, at the nine hotels covered by the investigation, HHM agrees to conduct regular audits of pay records, investigate and resolve violations, and decline to renew contracts with non-compliant staffing agencies.

LFH has signed a separate compliance agreement that, in addition to requiring the payment of back wages and liquidated damages, commits the labor provider to:

• Include a written provision in all contracts with all entities to which they provide workers specifically requiring that those employers comply with all applicable laws, rules and regulations, including but not limited to the FLSA.
• Ensure that all of LFH’s managerial employees are familiar specifically with all applicable laws, rules, and regulations regarding waiting time, rest and meal periods and paying employees on a piece-rate basis.
• Train all newly hired or newly promoted managerial employees on the same topics within 30 days of their employment start date.
• Provide each LFH employee with a copy of the FLSA Basic Information Sheet, in English, Spanish and Russian. 

Labor for Hire provided room attendants, housekeepers, supervisors, housemen, stewards, engineers, engineer helpers, maintenance workers, laundry workers, kitchen helpers, dishwashers, cooks, servers, bussers, hostesses, front desk staff, and maintenance workers, among other positions to work at HHM hotels.

The HHM-managed hotels covered by the investigation are:

• Hampton Inn at 320 Pearl St.
• Hampton Inn at 32 Pearl St.
• Hilton Garden Inn at 148-18 134th St., Jamaica.
• Hilton Garden Inn at 39 Avenue of the Americas.
• Hilton Garden Inn at 206 East 52nd St.
• Holiday Inn at 51 Nassau St.
• Holiday Inn Express at 126 Water St.
• Sheraton Hotel at 132-26 South Conduit Ave., Jamaica.
• Hilton Garden Inn at 237 West 54th St.

The division’s ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­New York City District Office conducted the investigation, and Jason Glick, Elena Goldstein, and Dustin Saldarriaga, attorneys from the department’s Office of the Regional Solicitor in New York assisted the division in securing the settlement.

For additional information about these and other laws enforced by the Wage and Hour Division, call its toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Information is also available at http://www.dol.gov/whd.