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.

Read this in Spanish. 

Employers:                            La Catrina 1 Inc., operating as La Catrina Tacos & Tequila Bar

                                                155 Hampton Point, Saint Augustine, FL 32092

                                                La Catrina 2 Inc., operating as La Catrina Tacos & Tequila Bar

                                                2710 Blanding Blvd., Middleburg, FL 32068

Investigation findings: U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division investigators found Victoria Espinoza and Nora Carlon, owners of two North Florida restaurants, required some workers to arrive before the restaurant opened to prep for the day’s shift and to clean at the end of their shifts after clocking out for the day. By doing so, the employer committed a minimum wage violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act for not compensating employees for all hours worked, and an overtime violation for not paying a time-and-one-half rate for hours over 40 in a workweek.

In addition, the restaurant violated federal regulations by not paying a cash wage to tipped workers and requiring them to work for tips only. By doing so, the employer could no longer claim a tip credit and owed the affected workers the full minimum wage for their time worked, including overtime compensation for hours worked over 40.

The division also learned the employer allowed three 15-year-old children to work at its Saint Augustine location for more than three hours per day and more than 18 hours per week when school was in session, and past 7 p.m. on school days and past 9 p.m. between June 1 and Labor Day, all violations of the federal child labor provisions.

Back wages/liquidated damages:    $124,592 in back wages and liquidated damages for 39 workers.

Civil money penalties:  $4,746 in civil money penalties to address the child labor violations.                                            

Quote: “Our investigation found the operators of La Catrina Tacos & Tequila Bar locations in Saint Augustine and Middleburg shortchanged dozens of workers of their hard-earned wages and illegally employed children in violation of federal regulations,” said Wage and Hour Division Deputy Regional Administrator Wildalí De Jesús in Atlanta. “These types of violations are all too common in the restaurant industry. Other employers should use this case as an opportunity to review their own pay practices to ensure they comply with the law.”

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 its search tool to learn if you are owed back wages collected by the division and an overview about the 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.  

COLUMBUS, MT – A federal court has ordered the operator of a Columbus residential care facility to pay $332,972 in back wages and liquidated damages to 35 resident workers after the U.S. Department of Labor found the employer underpaid the workers and violated federal law protecting workers with disabilities.

On Dec. 19, 2023, the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana, Billings Division entered a consent judgment and order requiring Special K Ranch to pay $166,486 in back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages to the affected workers.

An investigation by the department’s Wage and Hour Division determined Special K Ranch — which offers living and learning experiences for adults with developmental disabilities — failed to comply with requirements in Section 511 of the Rehabilitation Act, which negated the employer’s ability to pay the subminimum wage associated with its Fair Labor Standards Act’s 14(c) certification. As a result, the division cited the employer for federal minimum wage violations affecting resident workers at the ranch. 

“The U.S. Department of Labor will exercise its full authority to enforce the terms under which individuals are employed at a subminimum wage,” explained Wage and Hour Southwest Regional Administrator Betty Campbell in Dallas. “Employers holding Section 14(c) certificates cannot pay subminimum wages to any individual with a disability unless they provide information about training opportunities and career counseling in the required timeframes.”

Under Section 511, employers must provide information about training opportunities and access to career counseling services to make sure workers paid subminimum wages have access to necessary support and resources to enhance their opportunities to obtain competitive, integrated employment. An employer cannot pay subminimum wages to workers who don’t receive the opportunity to participate in these services.

Special K Ranch is a non-profit organization that provides family-oriented homes for 35 lifelong residents. Located along the Yellowstone River, the ranch offers a living and learning experience in a rural agricultural setting. Residents and staff operate a greenhouse and care for livestock, work in several vocational programs and participate in a variety of recreational activities in the surrounding community. 

Employers and workers can call division staff confidentially with questions, regardless of where they are from, and 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, free Timesheet App for Android and iOS devices, available in English and Spanish, to help track work hours and pay.

Julie A. Su, Acting Secretary of Labor, U.S. Department of Labor vs. Special K Ranch Inc.

Case 1:22-cv-00059-SPW-TJC

HASTINGS, NE – The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered $230,000 for 545 workers at a Hastings meat processing plant that were denied compensation for pre- and post-shift work such as donning and removing protective gear and equipment cleaning time.

An investigation by the department’s Wage and Hour Division found that Noah’s Ark Processors LLC paid workers when they and their co-workers started task work on a “gang shift” in various plant areas such as the kill, offal, fabrication and kosher floors. This practice denied workers' pay for several minutes a day spent doing pre- and post-shift work in the plant. The violations occurred from at least Sept. 6, 2021, through Feb. 4, 2023.

On Dec. 21, 2023, U.S. District Court Judge John M. Gerrad for the District of Nebraska, Omaha Division issued a consent judgment and order requiring the meat processor to pay the monies owed to the workers and to comply with the Fair Labor Standards Act in the future.

“The federal court’s ruling reinforces that employers must pay their workers for time preparing for and completing shift work. These compensable minutes each day add up to real dollars in workers’ pockets,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Marietta Taylor in Des Moines, Iowa. “Many of the workers in this case may not have understood their rights under federal wage laws. It is the legal responsibility of employers to pay workers all their earned wages and provide wage information in a language understood by the employee.”

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

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

United States Department of Labor v. Noah’s Ark Processing

Case number 8:23-cv-529

Lea en Español 

SANTA ANA, CA – The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered $180,299 in back wages and damages from three Orange County residential construction contractors whose employment pay practices violated federal regulations and denied workers their rightful and legal wages.

Some of the violations related to an employer’s misclassification of employees as independent contractors, a common violation in the construction industry that deprives workers of full and proper wages, benefits and worker protections under federal law. 

The recovery follows investigations by the department’s Wage and Hour Division that found the Southern California companies violated their workers’ rights. In total, the division recovered $90,150 in back wages plus an equal amount in liquidated damages for the affected workers. The division also assessed the employers $5,319 in civil money penalties.

The division settled with the employers administratively after finding the following infractions:

• Skeffington Enterprises Inc., a Santa Ana general contractor operating as Ben’s Asphalt, denied workers their full earnings by not paying them overtime premium rates for hours over 40 in a workweek due to the employer’s deduction of hours for lunch breaks not taken. The division recovered $111,253 for 20 employees.
• Ziegler Inc., an Anaheim manufacturer and installer of garage doors and iron gates, failed to pay workers minimum wage and overtime wages. The department recovered $54,964 in back wages and liquidated damages for 19 employees and assessed $3,324 in penalties for the willful violations. 
• ABC Builders LLC, a construction contractor in Costa Mesa, misclassified security guards as independent contractors, failed to pay required overtime for hours over 40 in a workweek and did not keep time records or report all employees on payroll. The division recovered $7,041 in back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages for three workers and assessed $1,995 in penalties.  

“Common labor law violations in the construction industry include employee misclassification, piece-rate paid workers not properly compensated for overtime, paying straight-time rates for overtime and not paying for all hours worked,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Min Park-Chung in San Diego. “The time is now for employers to do the right thing by complying with the law and paying workers all their earnings.”  

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 their 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). Help ensure hours worked and pay are accurate by downloading the department’s Android and iOS Timesheet App for free, also available in Spanish.

This news release is also available in Spanish. 

MONTGOMERY, AL – The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered $26,927 in back wages and liquidated damages for 36 employees of an Alabama fast-food enterprise that allowed management at two of its Montgomery locations to deduct time worked illegally, which led to federal minimum wage and overtime violations.

The department’s Wage and Hour Division investigators found Checkerboard Montgomery LLC and Checkerboard Montgomery 2 LLC knowingly permitted managers to violate the Fair Labor Standards Act by doing the following:

• Clocking out employees while they continued working.
• Deducting break time from workers’ schedules whether or not they took the breaks.
• Deleting entire portions of shifts from the pay records. 
• Altering timecards to reduce workers’ hours and not paying them overtime as required.

In 2020, the division found wage violations by Checkerboard Foods LLC at its Rally’s locations in Bessemer and Birmingham. The enterprise also operates Rally’s franchise locations in Montgomery. 

In addition to the most recent recovery of back wages and damages, the division assessed the employer with $3,636 in civil money penalties for the repeated nature of its violations. 

“When employers act in bad faith and permit managers to alter time records to reduce labor costs, the Department of Labor will act to protect workers and other law-abiding employers,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Kenneth Stripling in Birmingham, Alabama. “Willful and illegal actions such as these cannot be ignored as they deprive workers of their rights and make it more difficult for employers who follow the law to be successful.”

Division investigators also learned that Checkerboard Montgomery LLC and Checkerboard Montgomery 2 LLC violated federal child labor regulations by employing six 15-year-old employees to work for more than three hours per day and more than 18 hours per week when school was in session, more than eight hours per day when school was not in session, past 9 p.m. between June 1 and Labor Day and past 7 p.m. during the rest of the year. The division assessed the employer $5,228 in civil money penalties 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 are safe and do not interfere with their education or well-being,” Stripling added. “The Fair Labor Standards Act allows for developmental experiences but restricts the work hours of young workers between ages 14 and 15 and provides for penalties when employers do not follow the law.” 

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. 

The operators of Checkerboard Montgomery LLC and Checkerboard Montgomery 2 LLC also own four additional Checkers and Rally’s restaurants in Alabama, Georgia and North Carolina.

Workers and employers can contact the Wage and Hour Division confidentially at its toll-free number, 1-866-4-US-WAGE (487-9243). Learn more about the division, including its search tool to learn if you are owed back wages collected by the division and an overview about the 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.

Date of action:                       Sept. 28, 2023            

Type of action:                     Consent judgment and order 

Names of defendants:           Lonsdale Construction Inc. doing business as Lonsdale Construction, Lonsdale Concrete Floors Inc. doing business as Lonsdale Concrete, AJ Concrete Pumping Service Inc. doing business as AJ Concrete Pumping, Joseph Almeida and Jose Almeida. 

Address:                                 201 Broad St., Cumberland, Rhode Island 02864

Background:                          An investigation by the Providence area office of the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division found that the employers, residential concrete foundation and structure contractors, violated the Fair Labor Standards Act between Sept. 1, 2021 and Dec. 31, 2022, by failing to pay employees time and a-half their regular rates-of-pay for hours over 40 in a workweek and did not make, keep and preserve records of employees’ hours worked. 

Resolution:                             The consent judgment and order recovered a total of $108,088 – $54,044 in back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages – for 47 workers. The employers also paid $35,567 in civil money penalties to the department given the violations’ willful and repeat nature. The court also forbid them from future FLSA overtime, recordkeeping and retaliation violations and requires them to cooperate with any future investigations.

Court:                                    U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island

Docket Number:                   Civil Action No. 1:23-cv-397-WES-PAS

Quotes:                                   “Construction is challenging work for which employees should receive all the wages they are due. In cases like these, employers who shortchange their employees willfully and repeatedly will face costly consequences,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Donald Epifano in Hartford, Connecticut. “The Wage and Hour Division encourages workers to contact us if they believe their employer is not paying them all of their earned wages. We also provide numerous tools to help employers understand their responsibilities and comply with the law.”

                                                “This outcome should remind employers that the U.S. Department of Labor will take action, including litigation, on behalf of workers when employers deny them wages required by federal law,” said Regional Solicitor of Labor Maia Fisher in Boston.

                                                Learn more about the Wage and Hour Division, including a search tool to use if you think you may be owed back wages collected by the division. Workers can call the Wage and Hour Division confidentially with questions – regardless of immigration status – and 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 — also available in Spanish — to ensure hours and pay are accurate.

RICHFIELD, MN – The U.S. Department of Labor has filed a lawsuit to recover more than $508,000 in back wages and liquidated damages owed to employees of two Richfield grocery stores whose operators paid them an “artificially” low hourly rate to make it appear the employers paid the proper overtime rate.

Filed Dec. 19, 2023, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota, the suit alleges San Miguel Enterprises LLC, operating as La Vaquita-Short Stop, Jimenez Genao LLC, operating as La Vaquita-LV2, and the stores’ part-owner Mariela Jimenez, willfully violated federal wage regulations and denied overtime wages to 49 employees at the two locations. Both stores are jointly owned, and Jimenez manages their day-to-day operations and payrolls.

The action follows an investigation by the department’s Wage and Hour Division that determined the employers owe the affected workers $254,209 in back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages. 

“Our investigation found Mariela Jimenez intentionally miscalculated wage rates to create the appearance she was complying with federal wage laws when, in fact, she was shortchanging employees at two Richfield grocery stores each pay period,” explained Wage and Hour Division District Director Kristin Tout in Minneapolis. “The case shows that compliance with federal wage regulations is not open to interpretation or choice. It also demonstrates that the consequences for violating workers’ rights can be quite costly.”

Wage and Hour Division investigators reviewed payroll records of La Vaquita-Short Stop from July 8, 2020, through March 26, 2023, and of La Vaquita-LV2 from Nov. 9, 2020 through March 26, 2023, and found the company and Jimenez did the following: 

• Used an artificially low hourly rate of pay and mislabeled wages as discretionary bonuses to mask their failure to pay required overtime wages. 
• Did not pay overtime rates to employees who worked at both locations when their combined hours exceeded 40 hours in a workweek.
• Incorrectly categorized certain employees as executive or administrative employees exempt from overtime when, in fact, they should have been paid overtime. 
• Failed to maintain accurate time records as required.

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

Download the agency’s new Timesheet App for iOS and Android devices – free and also available in Spanish - to ensure hours and pay are accurate.

Su v. San Miguel Enterprises LLC d/b/a La Vaquita-Short Stop; Jimenez Genao LLC d/b/a La Vaquita-LV2, Mariela Jimenez, U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota

Civil Action No.: 23-3839

Employer:      Hale Vietnam Inc.

                        1140 12th Ave.

Honolulu, HI 96816                                                                                                     

Investigation findings: U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division investigators found the owners of the Vietnamese-cuisine restaurant kept a portion of employees’ tips and failed to pay overtime wages, both violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act. The employer paid overtime hours in cash without premium pay and illegally pocketed some of the tips employees earned. The employer also altered time records to conceal the illegal practice. 

This is the second time the division has found violations of federal labor laws by Hale Vietnam. In 2015, the division recovered $10,786 in overtime back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages for 17 employees to resolve similar infractions by the employer. 

Back Wages Recovered:       $59,468 in overtime back wages and tips for 14 employees

                                                $59,468 in liquidated damages for 14 employees

Quote: “Tips earned by workers are their property and no one else’s. Federal law forbids employers from pocketing any portion of workers’ tips and from withholding earned overtime pay,” explained Wage and Hour District Director Terence Trotter in Honolulu. “We urge restaurant employers and employees to contact us to discuss any questions about the Fair Labor Standards Act’s wage and tip requirements.”

Additional information: Workers can use the division’s Workers Owed Wages search tool to check to see if they are owed back wages collected by the division. Employers and workers 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 agency’s restaurants compliance assistance toolkit and an overview about the 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.