HONOLULU – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division has recovered $368,992 in back wages and damages for 16 employees of an Oahu restaurant — owned by one of Japan’s largest brewing and distilling companies — whose operators denied overtime wages to salaried cooks and chefs, some of whom worked up to 70 hours per week.

Investigators determined Restaurant Suntory wrongly excluded these salaried employees from overtime eligibility and, by doing so, did not pay them legally required overtime when they worked more than 40 hours in a workweek. The restaurant also failed to keep accurate wage records.

The division recovered $184,496 in unpaid overtime and an equal amount in liquidated damages for the affected employees, some of whom the employer owed as much as $46,000 in back pay. In addition, the department assessed Suntory $12,105 in civil money penalties for its reckless disregard of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

“The outcome of our investigation at Restaurant Suntory should serve to remind restaurant industry employers that they cannot simply ignore the rights of kitchen staff to overtime wages because these employees are paid on a fixed salary basis,” explained Wage and Hour Division District Director Terence Trotter in Honolulu. “Employers must pay workers who cook and prepare food for customers overtime rates for hours worked over 40 in a workweek.” 

“We strongly encourage restaurant industry employers to use the free resources we offer, including our compliance assistance toolkits to avoid costly violations like those found in this case,” Trotter added.

Owned by Suntory Holdings, Restaurant Suntory opened in Waikiki in 1980 and is the sole remaining Restaurant Suntory in the U.S. Founded in 1899, Suntory Holdings is a global provider of premium spirits, beer and wine, brewed teas, bottled water, carbonated soft drinks, ready‐to‐drink coffee and energy drinks, and health and wellness products. Its product line includes American spirits Jim Beam and Maker’s Mark as well as Sauza Tequila and the popular non‐alcoholic beverage, Orangina. The company operates in the Americas, Europe, Africa, Asia and Oceania, and had a reported annual revenue of $20.4 billion in 2020.

Workers can use the Wage and Hour 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 division confidentially for help at its toll-free number, 1-866-4-US-WAGE (487-9243). Learn more about the Wage and Hour Division, including the agency’s restaurant compliance assistance toolkit and an overview of 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:                              Fastrip Sacramento Inc., operating as Fastrip Food Store

                                                8061 Florin Road

Sacramento, CA 95828           

Type of action:                      Consent judgment and order

Name of defendants:             Fastrip Sacramento Inc., Amrik Singh

Background: Aninvestigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division found the operators of a Fastrip gas station and convenience store failed to pay federal minimum wage and overtime rates to seven employees for hours over 40 in a workweek, in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act. After learning of the investigation, the employer attempted to interfere by instructing employees not to speak with investigators, including offering bribes; requiring employees to sign blank timecards that the employer later backdated and falsified; and by trying to retaliate and intimidate employees by threatening to report their immigration status and by visiting or calling family or friends.

Resolution: The consent judgment orders Fastrip and Amrik Singh to pay $57,340 minimum wage and overtime, an equal amount in liquidated damages and $17,500 in compensatory damages to seven workers. The court also ordered Fastrip to pay $4,655 in civil penalties assessed by the division.  

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

Docket Number: 2:24-cv-00761-DJC-DB

Quote: “One of the U.S. Department of Labor’s priorities is to protect workers against the types of atrocious and illegal acts these employers took to retaliate against employees and interfere with our investigation,” said Regional Solicitor of Labor Marc Pilotin in San Francisco. “Their despicable actions to mask their deliberate efforts to deny vulnerable employees their hard-earned wages proved pointless and costly.” 

Background: Jaco Oil Co. owns more than 54 convenience stores branded as Fastrip Food Stores in Arizona and California; most are which are leased to independent operators.

The division’s Sacramento District Office conducted the investigation. The San Francisco Regional Office of the Solicitor reached the consent judgment at the court.

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. You can find other information on the agency’s website if you think you may have been misclassified as an independent contractor, or want to know 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.

Lea esto en español.

ATLANTA – After recovering more than $2 million in back wages for nearly 3,000 workers in the Southeast agricultural industry in 2023 and assessing employers with more than $3.8 million in civil money penalties, the U.S. Department of Labor and its Wage and Hour Division is continuing its multi-year initiative to educate industry employers about compliance and workers about their legal protections under federal law. The division’s enforcement and outreach efforts in the Southeast are part of a national initiative to improve compliance in the agricultural industry.

In 2023, investigators with the division’s Southeast Region identified violations in 90 percent of the approximately 240 completed investigations of agricultural employers. This was an increase from 2022, when the division’s Southeast investigators found violations in 85 percent of nearly 220 investigations. 

In addition, the division also debarred 8 Southeast growers and farm labor contractors in 2023 from participation in the H-2A agricultural guest worker program.

“The U.S. Department of Labor is committed to protecting dedicated farm workers who put food on America’s tables,” said Wage and Hour Division Regional Administrator Juan Coria in Atlanta. “When employers attempt to unlawfully increase their profits at the expense of the dignity, respect and, in some cases, freedom of workers, we will use every tool at our disposal to hold them accountable.”

The division will host a free virtual Agricultural Seminar on March 28 from 10:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. EST to provide guidance on federal requirements governing agricultural employment for growers, farmers, shippers, contractors, farm labor contractors, buyers and agricultural workers nationwide. Registration is required.

The division will continue to partner with industry stakeholders to instill greater industry awareness and provide tools to improve compliance, with the goal of lowering the overall number and rate of violations that occur. As the growing season approaches, the division will conduct vigorous investigations, inform workers and employers of their rights and responsibilities, and act to prevent violations of federal programs used by employers to find temporary, seasonal and migrant workers to meet labor demands. 

“Our enforcement and educational efforts go hand-in-hand. When workers are aware of their rights and understand they have a channel to discuss their wage concerns with us without fear of retaliation, it makes it harder for wage theft to go unpunished,” Coria added. 

Federal law empowers the division to suspend, revoke or withhold renewal of farm labor certificates for contractors who commit violations under the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act. Employers are encouraged to review the MSPA registered farm labor contractor list and H-2A debarment list prior to contracting for labor. The division offers compliance assistance resources, including an agriculture compliance assistance toolkit, where employers can access the information they need to comply with the law.

For information about MSPA, H-2A and other laws enforced by the division, contact the toll-free helpline confidentially at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). The division can speak with callers in more than 200 languages, regardless of where a caller is from.

PHOENIX – The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered $607,395 in back wages for 227 people working on an extension of the Valley Metro Light Rail system in the Phoenix metro area. 

Several investigations of the companies working for Omaha, Nebraska-based Kiewit Infrastructure West Co. — the federally supported project’s prime contractor — identified violations of the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts and the Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act.

“A prime contractor is responsible for ensuring that subcontractors follow all regulations and procedures for projects supported, in part or fully — with federal funds — including paying prevailing wages and providing required benefits,” explained Wage and Hour Division District Director Eric Murray in Phoenix. “The Wage and Hour Division is determined to ensure that federally funded construction projects provide workers and local communities with the intended economic benefits.”

Division investigators found subcontractors’ violations of federal contract laws included the following: 

• Kimbrell Electric Inc., a Glendale electrical contractor, failed to pay correct prevailing wage rates and fringe benefits. The company incorrectly classified electricians and paid them as pipelayers, common and general laborers, and power tool operators. The division recovered $350,659 for 107 employees. After a separate 2015 investigation of Kimbrell Electric, the division recovered $184,389 owed to 61 workers.
• Specialized Services Co, a Phoenix excavation services provider, wrongly classified employees as power tool operators when they were working as vacuum truck hose operators, which led the employer to underpay prevailing wages and fringe benefits to 42 employees. The division recovered $23,772 owed to these employees.
• Badger Infrastructure Solutions, a Brownsburg, Indiana-based hydro-excavation services company that operates as Badger Daylighting, incorrectly classified vacuum truck operators as common and general laborers. By doing so, the employer failed to pay employees the required prevailing wages, fringe benefits and overtime rates. The division recovered $76,745 for 35 employees.
• AJ Roberts Industrial Inc., a Chandler employer, incorrectly classified iron workers as power tool operators. By doing so, the company paid them significantly lower prevailing wage rates and fringe benefits than required for iron workers. The division recovered $142,659 for 23 workers.
• Roadway Electric LLC, a Phoenix electrical contractor incorrectly classified electricians as common and general laborers and pipelayers and, by doing so, did not pay them the correct electricians’ prevailing wage rates. The division recovered $13,458 in back wages owed to 20 workers. A separate 2020 investigation by the division also found violations of federal labor laws, leading to the recovery of $81,909 for 34 employees.

The division frequently finds contractors on DBRA projects incorrectly classify specific trades as laborers; fail to pay full prevailing wages, including fringe benefits; fail to maintain complete and accurate records; and do not post Davis-Bacon Act informational posters and the applicable wage determination at worksites.

Funded by the U.S. Department of Transportation through President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and with support provided by the Phoenix Transportation 2050 plan and the regional Proposition 400 initiative, the Northwest Phase II extension of the Valley Metro Light Rail opened to the public on Jan. 27, 2024.

Learn more about the DBRA, the CWHSSA and other laws enforced by the division, as well as a search tool to use if you think you may be owed back wages collected by the division. The division can speak with callers confidentially 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, available for Android and iOS devices in English and Spanish, to ensure hours and pay are accurate.

Learn more about the Wage and Hour Division.

BOSTON – Un tribunal federal de Boston dictó una sentencia acordada por las partes en mayo de 2023, en la que ordenó a dos agencias de reclutamiento del condado de Middlesex y a sus propietarios pagar un total de $256,992 en concepto de salarios atrasados e indemnización por daños y perjuicios a 238 empleados actuales y exempleados que ocupaban puestos en empresas de Maine, Massachusetts y New Hampshire.

El Departamento de Trabajo de los EE. UU. logró el fallo a raíz de su investigación de las prácticas de pago de las agencias de reclutamiento en virtud de la Ley de Normas Justas de Trabajo (Fair Labor Standards Act, FLSA). La División de Horas y Salarios del departamento está tratando de localizar y distribuir el dinero a los trabajadores a los que se deben estos salarios e indemnización por daños y perjuicios.

Empone Inc. de Lowell y Talenique Inc. de Tyngsboro suministraron empleados temporales a empresas como Greenhead Lobster Products LLC de Stonington, Maine; Maine Coast Shellfish LLC de York, Maine; Bombay Duck Company Ltd. de Acton, Massachusetts; y Alene Candles LLC de Milford, New Hampshire.

Los investigadores de la División de Horas y Salarios descubrieron que Empone y Talenique infringieron la FLSA porque no les pagaron a los empleados su remuneración con un recargo del 50 % por cada hora trabajada más allá de las 40 horas semanales. En la investigación, también se descubrieron infracciones de la FLSA en materia de registros contables.

Empone y Talenique han abonado los salarios y la indemnización por daños y perjuicios adeudados a la división, que está distribuyendo estos fondos entre los trabajadores. También pagarán $463,407 en concepto de sanciones pecuniarias civiles al Departamento de Trabajo, debido a la naturaleza intencionada de sus infracciones.

“Estas agencias de reclutamiento no les pagaban a sus trabajadores una remuneración con un recargo del 50 % por cada hora trabajada más allá de las 40 horas semanales. En lugar de ello, Empone y Talenique les negaron a los trabajadores los salarios íntegros que deberían haber percibido”, explicó el director de distrito de la División de Horas y Salarios, Carlos Matos, en Boston.

“Los trabajadores temporales pueden ser vulnerables a la explotación y a salarios más bajos de los que corresponden, pero las empresas que contratan a trabajadores temporales también pueden tener responsabilidades”, señaló Matos. “También pueden ser responsables como empleadores conjuntos si los trabajadores temporales no perciben un salario adecuado. La División de Horas y Salarios anima a los empleadores conjuntos, incluidos los que recurren a agencias de reclutamiento temporal, a verificar que todos los empleados perciban un salario adecuado conforme a la Ley de Normas Justas de Trabajo”.

“Los empleadores conjuntos, incluidas las agencias de reclutamiento y las empresas anfitrionas en algunas circunstancias, pueden estar sujetos al cumplimiento de la Ley de Normas Justas de Trabajo, lo que comprende la garantía de que los empleados perciban toda la remuneración que ganan”, comentó la procuradora regional de trabajo Maia Fisher en Boston. “Este caso envía un mensaje claro de que el Departamento de Trabajo de los EE. UU. no tolerará que los empleadores despojen a los trabajadores de los salarios que tanto les ha costado ganar y de que tales acciones pueden tener costosas consecuencias para los empleadores que hagan caso omiso a la ley”.

La Asociación Camboyana de Asistencia Mutua de Lowell está ayudando a la División de Horas y Salarios a localizar a los empleados a los que se les deben salarios atrasados e indemnizaciones por daños y perjuicios, ya que muchos de los trabajadores hablan jemer y es posible que se hayan mudado o desconozcan que se les debe el dinero que ganaron. Los trabajadores pueden llamar a la asociación al 978-454-6200 o a la oficina del distrito de Boston de la División de Horas y Salarios al 617-624-6700.

Obtenga más información sobre la División de Horas y Salarios, incluida su herramienta de búsqueda que puede utilizar si cree que se le adeudan salarios atrasados cobrados por la división. Los empleadores y los trabajadores pueden llamar de forma confidencial a la división para hacer preguntas, independientemente de su situación migratoria. La división puede hablar con las personas que llaman en más de 200 idiomas a través del teléfono gratuito de ayuda del organismo, el 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Descargue la nueva aplicación Hoja de Tiempo del organismo para dispositivos iOS y Android en inglés o español para asegurarse de que las horas y el pago sean correctos.

Este comunicado de prensa también está disponible en inglés.    

BOSTON – A federal court in Boston entered a consent judgment in May of 2023, ordering two Middlesex County employment staffing agencies and their owners to pay a total of $256,992 in back wages and liquidated damages to 238 current and former employees who were placed with businesses in Maine, Massachusetts and New Hampshire. 

The U.S. Department of Labor obtained the judgment following its investigation of the staffing agencies’ payment practices under the Fair Labor Standards Act. The department’s Wage and Hour Division is seeking to locate and distribute the money to the workers who are owed these wages and damages.  

Empone Inc. of Lowell and Talenique Inc. of Tyngsboro supplied temporary employees to companies such as Greenhead Lobster Products LLC in Stonington, Maine; Maine Coast Shellfish LLC in York, Maine; Bombay Duck Company Ltd. in Acton, Massachusetts; and Alene Candles LLC in Milford, New Hampshire. 

Wage and Hour Division investigators found that Empone and Talenique violated the FLSA when they failed to pay employees time and one half their regular rate of pay for hours worked over 40 in a work week. The investigation also uncovered FLSA recordkeeping violations. 

Empone and Talenique have paid the wages and liquidated damages owed to the division, which is distributing these funds to the workers. Empone and Talenique will also pay $463,407 in civil money penalties to the labor department, due to the willful nature of their violations.

“These staffing agencies failed to pay their workers time and a half for hours worked over 40 per week. Instead, Empone and Talenique denied the workers the full wages they should have received,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Carlos Matos in Boston. 

“Temporary workers can be vulnerable to exploitation and underpayment, but the companies who contract for temporary workers can have responsibilities as well,” noted Matos. “They may also be liable as joint employers if the temporary employees are not paid properly. The Wage and Hour Division encourages joint employers, including those who use temporary staffing agencies, to verify that all employees are being paid properly under the Fair Labor Standards Act.”

“Joint employers, including staffing agencies and host companies in some circumstances, can both be responsible for complying with the Fair Labor Standards Act, including ensuring that employees receive all the compensation they earn,” said Regional Solicitor of Labor Maia Fisher in Boston. “This case sends a clear message that the U.S. Department of Labor will not tolerate employers that shortchange workers of their hard-earned wages and that such actions can have costly consequences for employers who disregard the law.”

The Cambodian Mutual Assistance Association in Lowell is assisting the Wage and Hour Division in locating employees that are due back wages and damages, as many of the workers speak Khmer and may have moved or are unaware they are owed the monies they earned. Workers can contact the association at 978-454-6200 or the Wage and Hour Division’s Boston District Office at 617-624-6700. 

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

Su v. Empone Inc, Talenique Inc. Vanchan Tok and Natalie Sokhom a/k/a Jenny Tok

Civil Action No. 1:23-cv-10963

This press release is also available in Spanish.

Employer:      Supermart El Torito Inc.

                        1409 Central Avenue

                         Kansas City, KS 

Investigation findings: An investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division recovered $155,990 ‒ representing $77,995 in back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages ‒ for 158 employees of Supermart El Torito Inc. in Kansas City, Kansas. The division also assessed the employer with $187,546 in civil money penalties for repeated violations of Fair Labor Standards Act’s overtime provisions.

Investigators found that Supermart El Torito paid employees overtime at time and a-half the employee’s rate of pay, as required when they worked between 41 and 58 hours a week. When an employee worked more than 58 hours per week, the employer paid the additional time at the worker’s straight-time hourly rate in cash. By law, Supermart El Torito should have paid employees time and one-half their hourly rate for all hours over 40 in a workweek. The employer also failed to record and retain accurate employee time records. 

The division cited the employer for violations found at its Kansas City location at 1409 Central Avenue. Supermart El Torito operates two food stores in Kansas City and one in Topeka. 

Quote: “When an employer shortchanges its workers their rightfully earned wages, such as overtime, knowingly, they take money out of workers’ pockets,” explained Wage and Hour District Director Reed Trone in Kansas City, Missouri. “Our investigation found Supermart El Torito chose to ignore the law.”

Background: 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, including if you think you are misclassified as an independent contractor. 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.

WASHINGTON – New research released today by the U.S. Department of Labor reveals that Black women lost $42.7 billion in wages compared to white men in 2023, and Hispanic women lost $53.3 billion in wages. These losses are driven entirely by the fact that Black and Hispanic women are concentrated disproportionately in jobs that, on average, pay lower wages than those held by white men.

“As we mark Equal Pay Day today, the Department of Labor’s ‘Bearing the Cost’ report is further evidence that women have long been undervalued in jobs and industries where they are overrepresented,” said Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su. “The Biden-Harris administration is centering racial and gender equity in our economic growth plan, working to close the racial and gender pay gaps by expanding both opportunity and job quality for women.”

Job segregation is a long-standing driver of the persistent pay inequities experienced by women in the U.S. In 2022, the gender wage gap – the difference between the median wages of men and women working full-time year-round – was 16 percent, which means women working full-time year-round received 84 cents for every dollar paid to men. Compared to white, non-Hispanic men, the wage gaps were 20 percent for white, non-Hispanic women; 31 percent for Black women; and 43 percent for Hispanic women. 

“Job segregation results in lower wages for women, especially women of color and their families, and hurts the whole economy,” said Women’s Bureau Director Wendy Chun-Hoon. “The Biden-Harris administration is implementing proven strategies to address economic disparities and working to eliminate the wage gap for all workers.”

Learn more about the research. 

Employer:      Family Hands Adult Care Facility LLC 

                        10016 LaSalle Ave.

Los Angeles, CA 90047                                                                                                     

Investigation findings: The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division found that Family Hands Adult Care Facility, operator of three residential care facilities for special needs patients in Los Angeles, blatantly disregarded the overtime pay requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act. Investigators determined the employer paid regular hourly rates to employees for overtime hours worked beyond 40 in a workweek. During the review, owner Tina Scruggs-Tate told investigators that she did not maintain employee time records despite the fact that workers used identification numbers and fingerprints to clock in and out of work daily.

Back Wages Recovered:       $64,800 in unpaid overtime for 26 employees

                                                $64,800 in liquidated damages for 26 employees

                                                $9,684 in civil money penalties for willful violations

Quote: “The U.S. Department of Labor too often finds residential care employers taking advantage of vulnerable workers who provide critical services for people in need,” said Wage and Hour Division Assistant District Director Susan Bacon in Los Angeles. “Family Hands Adult Care Facility’s flagrant denial of required overtime pay violated the rights of employees to be paid fully. We will hold such bad actors to account for their workplace abuse and exploitation.”

Background: In 2023, the division’s Los Angeles District Office completed 12 investigations of care industry employers, recovered more than $983,000 in wages and liquidated damages for care workers and conducted 14 educational outreach events for this industry. 

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.  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.

NEW ORLEANS – The U.S. Department of Labor announced today that its Wage and Hour Division’s New Orleans district office has signed a collaborative agreement with the Southeast Louisiana Building and Construction Trades Council to protect workers and promote compliance with federal labor laws. 

The partnership will help both organizations cross-train staff, ease outreach efforts and identify possible labor violations. It will also expand information sharing and create opportunities to inform workers about their legal protections and improve employer awareness of their obligations.

“The Wage and Hour Division is pleased to enter this partnership with the Southeast Louisiana Building and Construction Trades Council,” explained Wage and Hour Division District Director Troy Mouton in New Orleans. “Our agencies’ goals complement each other and create unique opportunities to provide critical services to those who need them most.”

The three-year agreement will help provide construction workers in Louisiana with information, guidance and access to educational and training resources to help them exercise their rights, particularly those protected by minimum wage, overtime, recordkeeping and child labor laws. It also will include compliance assistance activities to help employers understand their labor compliance obligations.

Learn more about the laws enforced by the division or contact its toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Calls can be answered in more than 200 languages, regardless of where you are from.

Learn more about the Southeast Louisiana Building and Construction Trades Council.