Employer name:        Comfort Air of Grand Junction LLC

Investigation site:     746 Scarlet St.

                                            Grand Junction, CO 81505

Investigation findings: The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division found the employer failed to pay 63 employees time and one-half for all hours worked greater than 40 hours a week and failed to include travel time when determining total hours worked, a violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act. 

Back wages and damages: $90,086 in owed back wages, $90,086 in liquidated damages.

Quote: “Paying workers the wages they are owed is a legal requirement and a fundamental principle that creates a fair work environment,” said Wage and Hour District Director Chad Frasier in Denver. “The Wage and Hour Division will continue to hold employers accountable and protect the rights of all workers.”

Background: In fiscal year 2023, investigations by the Wage and Hour Division recovered more than $274 million in back wages for nearly 163,000 workers. These were wages owed for work performed but not paid by employers.

MIAMI – The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered $901,625 in back wages and liquidated damages for 75 workers of a Florida grocery store enterprise after finding their employer wrongly exempted them from eligibility for overtime pay.

The department’s Wage and Hour Division determined La Primavera Store Inc. – operating as La Primavera Supermarket in Fort Pierce, Bradenton and Sarasota – incorrectly categorized the affected employees as overtime exempt and did not pay them the required time-and-one-half rate for hours over 40 in a workweek, as required by the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Investigators found the employees did not meet certain criteria for exemption, including being paid at least $684 per week on salary, conducting managerial duties such as directing the work of two or more full-time employees regularly and having the authority to hire and fire employees.

“Employers who misapply exemptions and deny hard-working people all of their earned wages make it harder for workers to provide for themselves and their families,” explained Wage and Hour Division District Director Daniel Cronin in Miami. “Under federal law, employers are responsible for making sure they comply with regulations that protect workers’ rights to their full wages, benefits and protections.”

In addition to wage violations, the division learned La Primavera Store employed two 15-year-old employees to work outside of legally allowed hours, in violation of federal child labor regulations. Specifically, the employer employed the young workers past 7 p.m. between Labor Day and June 1 and more than 18 hours during school weeks. The division assessed the employer with a $1,582 civil money penalty to address the child labor violations.

“Learning new skills in the workforce is an important part of growing up – but we must protect children and ensure their first jobs do not interfere with their education or well-being,” added Cronin. “The Fair Labor Standards Act allows for developmental experiences but limits the work hours of 14- and 15-year-old workers and provides for penalties when employers do not follow the law.”

As a result of investigations like these across the state, the Wage and Hour Division is attempting to locate more than 14,000 Florida workers owed more than $6.5 million it has recovered from employers. People who believe they may be owed back wages collected by the division should use its Workers Owed Wages search tool to determine if they are owed back wages.

Workers can call the Wage and Hour Division confidentially with questions and the department can speak with callers in more than 200 languages. Learn more about the Wage and Hour Division, including information about protections for young workers on the department’s YouthRules! website. Through the YouthRules! initiative, the U.S. Department of Labor 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.

For more information about the FLSA and other laws enforced by the agency, contact the division’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). The division also offers online resources for employers, such as a fact sheet on Fair Labor Standards Act overtime requirements.

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

Read this news release En Español. 

Read this news release En Español. 

WILMINGTON, NC – The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered $168,796 in back wages for 51 workers at a Wilmington storm response contractor that misclassified them as independent contractors and failed to pay them for several months after work was completed.

The department’s Wage and Hour Division found Utility Resource Services LLC, which employs former utility workers and drivers to identify and report line and power issues in areas affected by hurricanes, violated minimum wage and overtime violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act when it failed to pay many of the affected workers for more than seven months. 

Investigators also learned the employer had misclassified some employees as independent contractors and did not pay them required time-and-one-half rates for hours over 40 in a workweek and failed to maintain payroll records for its employees, as the law requires. 

“Federal law requires employers to comply with all federal employee protections, including proper classification and payment of all legally earned wages,” explained Wage and Hour Division District Director Richard Blaylock in Raleigh, North Carolina. “Our staff routinely provides assistance and training to help employers understand and follow the law and avoid the costly consequences of violations.” 

During the investigation, the employer reported they could not make payroll after another company holding the contract for those services failed to pay them. 

“The law does not allow employers to pass along their financial hardships to their employees. A customer’s failure to pay an employer for services does not affect their obligation to pay its employees’ lawfully earned wages on their regular pay dates,” added Blaylock. 

Currently, the Wage and Hour Division is holding more than $2.5 million in wages recovered from employers owed to more than 3,200 North Carolina workers. People who believe they may be owed back wages collected by the division should use its Workers Owed Wages search tool to determine if they are owed back wages.

Workers and employers can call the division confidentially with questions, and the department can speak with callers in more than 200 languages. For more information about the FLSA and other laws enforced by the agency, contact the division’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). The division also offers online resources for employers, such as a fact sheet on Fair Labor Standards Act overtime requirements.

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

NASHVILLE, TN – The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered $47,728 in back wages and liquidated damages for two former employees of two separate Tennessee-based healthcare providers that violated their rights to protected leave under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act.

Investigators with the department’s Wage and Hour Division found Nashville’s Wellpath LLC illegally fired a medical office assistant – working at the Mecklenburg County Jail in Charlotte, North Carolina – after the employee exercised their right to request and use FMLA-protected leave for a qualifying health condition. 

In a separate investigation, the agency found Whites Creek Operating Group – operating as Whites Creek Wellness & Rehabilitation in Whites Creek, Tennessee – illegally fired a housekeeper after the employee exercised their right to request and use FMLA-protected leave for a qualifying health condition.

Agency investigators determined the employers failed to:

• Inform the workers that they may have been eligible for leave within five business days of learning that their leave may be FMLA-qualifying.
• Provide a rights and responsibilities notice in writing to an employee at the time it was required to provide the eligibility notice, or within five business days of learning of their leave.
• Inform employees if their leave would be designated as FMLA-qualifying within five business days of knowledge of their leave.
• Correctly classify an employee’s absences from work as FMLA-qualifying.
• Include all of the required information about the FMLA in their company handbook.

“The Family and Medical Leave Act makes clear that employers cannot deprive an eligible employee of leave, forcing them to make the hard choice between keeping their jobs and caring for themselves or their families,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Lisa Kelly in Nashville, Tennessee. “The U.S. Department of Labor is committed to ensuring that employees’ rights under the FMLA are protected. We encourage employers to review the numerous tools and resources we provide to help them understand their rights and obligations under this law.”

In fiscal year 2023, the Wage and Hour Division concluded 334 FMLA compliance actions with violations and recovered more than $987,000 in back wages.

Headquartered in Nashville, Wellpath LLC is a medical and mental healthcare company that employs approximately 15,000 clinicians at 550 facilities in 36 U.S. states and Australia. 

Whites Creek Wellness & Rehabilitation is a nursing facility that provides rehabilitation, respite care, outpatient therapy and long-term care to patients and employs approximately 120 workers at the facility. 

Learn more about the FMLA and other laws enforced by the Wage and Hour Division, including an FMLA Compliance Assistance Toolkit, or contact the division’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243).

Workers and employers can call the Wage and Hour Division confidentially with questions, regardless of where they are from, and the department can speak with callers in more than 200 languages. Learn more about Wage and Hour Division, including a search tool to use if you think you may be owed back wages collected by the division.

LOS ANGELES – The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered $305,977 in back wages and damages for 47 people employed by a Palmdale construction company that deliberately failed to pay them for time spent working before and after their shifts and when traveling to and from the company’s yard.

Investigators with the department’s Wage and Hour Division found Tejon Constructors Inc. did not pay the affected workers for all the hours they worked in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act. They also determined the company owners — Brian Smith, Timothy Costello and Paul Delgado — failed to keep accurate records of employees’ hours worked as required by law.

“The U.S. Department of Labor is committed to making sure workers are paid every dollar they earn,” said Wage and Hour Division Assistant District Director Susan Bacon in Los Angeles. “Our investigators often find employers in the residential construction industry not paying workers for pre- and post-shift work and for work-related travel time. We encourage employers to contact us with questions to avoid compliance issues and the potentially costly consequences of paying back wages and damages.”

In addition to recovering $152,988 in back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages, the division assessed Tejon Constructors with $9,494 in civil money penalties for its willful disregard of federal regulations.

Founded in Bakersfield in 1983, Tejon Constructors Inc. is a general contractor now located in Palmdale specializing in water, sewer, storm drain and other infrastructure projects throughout Southern California. 

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

This news release is also available in Spanish.  

AUSTIN, TX – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division is asking the building construction industry of Texas to participate in a survey to help the agency establish prevailing wage rates, as required under the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts for wages paid to workers on federally funded and federally assisted construction projects.

The department sets the prevailing wage rates that reflect the actual wages and fringe benefits paid to construction workers in the county where the work takes place. This survey requests information about wages paid to construction workers on building construction projects in Texas where construction occurred between Jan. 29, 2023, and April 29, 2024, in the Austin and San Antonio areas, covering the counties of Atascosa, Bandera, Bastrop, Bexar, Caldwell, Comal, Guadalupe, Hays, Kendall, Medina, Travis, Wilson and Williamson. 

The survey is not limited to federally funded construction projects. Data collection will begin Jan. 29, 2024, and end on April 29, 2024. The department encourages all contractors, stakeholders and other interested parties to participate in the survey.

Participation in the survey process is critical to the publication of prevailing wage and fringe benefit rates that accurately reflect the rates paid in the area being surveyed. Complete determinations reduce the need for contractors to request additional labor classifications. 

The best way to participate in the survey is online. The Wage and Hour Division will send notification letters to interested parties and contractors known to the agency. The letter will direct those parties to the website where their representatives can complete the survey online. To be included, please complete and submit the online survey by April 29, 2024. To submit the information by mail, contact the department at 1-866-236-2773 and request a mailed form. There is no need to have received a letter to participate. The survey can be completed online. 

On Aug. 23, 2023, the department published in the federal register the final rule, Updating the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts Regulations. The final rule took effect on Oct. 23, 2023.

If you have questions about the survey process and forms, please contact the Davis-Bacon Survey Center at 866-236-2773 or Davisbaconinfo@dol.gov. 

People interested in getting more information about this survey may attend one of two free virtual briefings on January 30 and February 1, describing the survey process and offering instructions for completing the survey. 

Learn more about the surveys. 

Employer:   Kids Paradise Child Development Center LLC, operating as Kids Paradise CDC

                      4716 US Highway 17 Bypass South, Myrtle Beach, SC 29588 and

                       2103 Cromley Circle, Myrtle Beach, SC 29577                                          

Investigation findings: U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division investigators found that two Myrtle Beach daycare facilities failed to pay overtime for hours worked over 40 in a workweek to 61 employees as required by the Fair Labor Standards Act. The agency determined the employer allowed employees to bank overtime hours, which were then mostly paid out at straight time rates in later workweeks. The employer also failed to include non-discretionary bonuses in the employees’ regular rate when computing overtime payments – leading to overtime payments at rates lower than required by law. Division investigators also found the employer failed to pay two non-exempt salaried employees a premium overtime rate for hours worked over 40 in a workweek. In addition, the employer failed to maintain accurate payroll records to include not showing the number of weekly banked hours they paid out to employees.

Back wages recovered: The division recovered $47,287 in back wages for 61 workers. 

Quote: “Employers are welcome to establish any pay period they choose, but regardless of whether they decide to pay weekly, bi-weekly, twice a month, or another schedule, they still must track workers’ hours each week to determine when overtime is due,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Jamie Benefiel in Columbia, South Carolina. “We firmly believe that essential workers deserve to receive every penny of their hard-earned wages, and it is of utmost importance that employers fully comprehend their responsibilities in this regard. Our dedicated team is here to provide confidential assistance to anyone with questions or concerns.”

Background: 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, including the fact sheets that outline employers and employees obligations and rights in regard to overtime under the FLSA. Workers and employers alike can help track hours worked and pay by downloading the department’s Android and iOS timesheet app for free, available in English or Spanish.  

BOSTON – The U.S. Department of Labor has filed a complaint in federal court in Boston, alleging that 25 Massachusetts skilled nursing facilities in 21 communities intentionally withheld overtime wages to at least 624 employees and failed to maintain accurate employment records.

The action in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts follows an investigation by the department’s Wage and Hour Division of the pay practices of Next Step Healthcare LLC, affiliated entities that jointly operated and/or managed Next Step Healthcare’s Massachusetts skilled nursing facilities and Next Step Healthcare’s co-owners, Damian N. Dell’Anno and William H. Stephan. 

The department alleges that at all of the employers’ Massachusetts facilities, they automatically deducted 30 minutes from employees’ hours worked for meal breaks and regularly permitted employees to work through those breaks. Based on those practices, the complaint alleges that the employers violated the Fair Labor Standards Act by failing to pay employees all wages due at each employee’s regular rate of pay for all hours the employees worked, and failing to pay employees the required FLSA overtime rate for all hours worked over 40 in each workweek.

“The U.S. Department of Labor will not tolerate employers who willfully deny their employees their hard-earned wages and violate the Fair Labor Standards Act,” said Regional Solicitor of Labor Maia Fisher in Boston. “This litigation shows that we will enforce the law vigorously to make sure workers are paid properly for all the compensable hours that they work.”

In its complaint, the department seeks to recover unpaid regular rate and overtime wages earned in overtime workweeks from Sept. 27, 2018, through at least Sept. 14, 2021, plus liquidated damages equal to the amount of wages found due. It also asks the court to restrain the employers from committing future violations of the FLSA’s overtime and recordkeeping provisions. 

View the department’s complaint against Next Step Healthcare and its owners and affiliates.

“Denying full wages, including overtime, to people who provide skilled nursing services to those in need in our communities makes it harder for these workers to care for themselves and their families,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Carlos Matos in Boston. “Deliberately shortchanging employees’ wages, as alleged in this case, is truly unfair and illegal, and can have very costly consequences for employers who mistakenly believe they can avoid their legal responsibilities.”

In fiscal year 2023, the division recovered nearly $32 million in back wages for more than 24,000 health care workers in almost 2,500 compliance actions. It also assessed employers in the health care industry more than $2 million in civil money penalties.

The Wage and Hour Division’s district office in Boston conducted the investigation and the department’s Regional Solicitor in Boston is litigating the case.

Founded in 2014, Next Step Healthcare LLC is based in Woburn. During the period of time covered by the department’s complaint, Next Step and its subsidiaries jointly operated and/or managed at least 25 affiliated skilled nursing facilities as a single enterprise. The facilities covered by the complaint were located in Agawam, Attleboro, Braintree, Chestnut Hill, Dedham, Fall River, Fitchburg, Gloucester, Lee, Malden, Melrose, Middleboro, Norwood, Plymouth, South Dennis, Taunton, Walpole, Wareham, Westborough, West Newton and Worcester.

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 department 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.

MANCHESTER, NH – The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered $184,008 in tips, back wages and liquidated damages for 56 restaurant employees denied their full wages and tips by the operators of two New Hampshire restaurants after an investigation by the department’s Wage and Hour Division. 

The division found that My Cielo Taqueria restaurants in Epping and Rochester violated tip keeping, minimum wage, overtime and child labor provisions of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act in the following ways:

• Allowed managers to participate in the employees’ tip pool and kept tips from online orders. 
• Failed to pay overtime to salaried, non-exempt employees working as prep-cooks and cooks.
• Failed to pay some hourly employees overtime or paid them overtime at an improperly calculated rate.
• Did not compensate hourly employees for some hours worked.
• Employed three 15-year-olds at the Rochester location to work in excess of hours restrictions, such as working more than three hours on a school day, after 7 p.m. between Labor Day and June 1 and after 9 p.m. between June 1 and Labor Day.

“The Fair Labor Standards Act prohibits owners and managers from participating in tip pools and keeping any portion of an employee’s tips for any purpose. Not paying low-wage restaurant workers minimum wage and overtime and depriving them of their earned tips makes it harder for them to pay their bills and support their families,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Steven McKinney in Manchester, New Hampshire. 

In addition to the recovered wages and tips, the department assessed and collected $5,356 in civil money penalties from the employers for their child labor and tip violations.

“Employers engaging in such practices will face costly consequences for violating federal law,” added McKinney. “Violations can be prevented if employers know, understand and comply with the law. We encourage employers to contact us with questions about their legal responsibilities.”

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. Young workers 14 and 15 years of age may be employed outside school hours in a variety of safe, non-manufacturing jobs that do not jeopardize their well-being. 

The 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 U.S. Department of Labor 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.

Workers and employers can contact the division confidentially 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, an overview of FLSA protections for restaurant workers and Workers Owed Wages, a search tool to use if you think you may be owed back wages collected by the division. Workers and employers alike can help track their hours worked and pay by downloading the department’s Android and iOS Timesheet App for free in English or Spanish.  

This press release is also available in Spanish.

DOTHAN, AL – The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered $127,249 in back wages and liquidated damages for 26 workers at an aviation maintenance shop employed by a Dothan staffing company that misclassified them as independent contractors and denied overtime wages. 

Investigators with the department’s Wage and Hour Division found that Lucero Aerospace Staffing Solutions LLC paid workers straight-time rates for all hours and failed to pay the additional half-time rate required for hours over 40 in a workweek. In addition, the employer failed to pay one worker at least the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour, all violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act. 

“Employers are legally obligated to pay and classify their workers correctly and to keep accurate records of all time worked by these individuals,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Kenneth Stripling in Birmingham, Alabama. “Misclassification deprives workers of their full wages, benefits and protections, cheats law-abiding employers and harms communities when payroll taxes are not paid.”

In Alabama, the division has recovered more than $513,868 waiting to be claimed for 1,476 workers and offers a workers owed wages search tool that people can use to see if they are owed back wages collected by the agency. Workers who feel they may not be getting the wages they earned or are misclassified as independent contractors may contact a Wage and Hour Division representative in their state through a list and interactive online map on the agency’s website. 

Workers and employers can contact the division confidentially at its toll-free number, 1-866-4-US-WAGE (487-9243). The division also offers online resources for employers, such as a fact sheet on Fair Labor Standards Act overtime pay requirements. Workers and employers can help ensure hours worked and pay are accurate by downloading the department’s Android or iOS Timesheet App for free and available in English and Spanish. Learn more about the Wage and Hour Division.