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.  

WESTBURY, NY – A Long Island awnings company and its owner will pay $252,370 in back wages and damages to nearly three dozen workers whose employers intentionally denied them overtime wages over a three-year period, after a U.S. Department of Labor investigation.

A review by the department’s Wage and Hour Division of pay practices of Rollup Shutters & Awnings Inc. and owner Murray Braun determined the employers paid 35 employees straight-time rates for all hours worked, including for hours over 40 in a workweek. The employers’ willful effort to avoid paying time and a half for overtime hours deprived the affected workers of $126,185 in back wages. 

Division investigators also learned the employers did not maintain accurate employee pay records and paid employees their regular hourly wage rates in cash.

“Our investigation found that, for three years, Rollup Shutters & Awnings Inc. and owner, Murray Braun, willfully shortchanged 35 employees of their hard-earned overtime wages,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director David An in Westbury, New York. “Federal law protects workers’ rights to be paid fully for all the hours they work. The company and its owner have learned that the consequences for violating these rights are often costly, even more so when we find their violations were intentional.”

To resolve its Fair Labor Standards Act violations, Rollup Shutters & Awnings Inc. must pay the back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages and $28,245 in civil money penalties assessed for willfully violating federal law. In addition to its financial obligations, the settlement agreement requires the employers to implement certain procedures to ensure their records are complete and accurate including, but not limited to, providing each employee with a printed statement of daily and weekly hours worked and giving the employee an opportunity to review it for at least two years, and to post information on federal wage laws prominently. 

Based in Holbrook, Rollup Shutters & Awnings Inc. has manufactured, installed and maintained shutters and awnings for customers in Suffolk and Nassau counties since 1979. The company also has locations in West Hempstead and Huntington Station. 

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 Wage and Hour Division, including its search tool to learn if you are owed back wages collected by the 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. 

GRAND RAPIDS, MI – The owner and operator of four western Michigan convenience stores agreed to pay $36,528 in back wages and damages to 13 workers to resolve a lawsuit brought by the U.S. Department of Labor after its investigators found the company had inaccurate payroll records, paid employees “off-the-books” and denied them overtime wages when required, all in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

On Dec. 18, U.S. District Court Judge Jane M. Beckering for the Western District of Michigan in Grand Rapids issued a consent judgment and order requiring Ali & Companies LLC and owner, Ali Haider, to pay the monies owed to the workers, employed at two 7-Eleven stores in East Lansing, one in Perry and one in Zeeland. The court order also requires Haider and the company to pay the department $10,491 in civil money penalties for its violations of the FLSA. 

Haider was the Michigan Franchise Owners Association of 7-Eleven’s president when the lawsuit was filed. 

“This case’s quick resolution puts hard-earned wages and damages into the pockets of 13 workers and sends a strong message to business owners that the Department of Labor will not tolerate wage theft and attempts to mask violations of federal wage laws,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Mary O’Rourke in Grand Rapids, Michigan. “Employers have a legal obligation to pay workers all of their earned wages or face potentially costly consequences.”

The court’s actions follow an investigation by the department’s Wage and Hour Division that found — from at least Nov. 17, 2020 through Nov. 16, 2022 — the Okemos-based company and Haider did not pay workers overtime at time and one half their regular rate of pay for hours over 40 in a workweek. Instead, the employers paid some workers off the books, and failed to maintain accurate records of employee hours worked and pay received, all violations of the FLSA.

As part of the judgment, Haider and the company have agreed to future FLSA compliance. They will also provide employees with information on federal wage laws and with accurate pay stubs that show all hours worked, wages paid and withholdings.

Haider solely owned and operated the four 7-Eleven franchises involved in the department’s lawsuit. 7-Eleven Inc. was not sued. 

Founded in 1927, 7-Eleven Inc. is a globally recognized brand in the convenience-retailing industry with more stores than any other retailer in the world with more than 84,000 stores in 20 countries. Wholly owned by Seven & i Holdings Co. Ltd., 7-Eleven Inc. is based in Irving, Texas and operates, franchises and/or licenses more than 13,000 stores in the U.S. and Canada. 

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. Ali & Companies LLC, Ali Haider

Case number 1:23-cv-01033

Lee esto en Español.

Employer:      

Atlanta United Interiors

265 18th St. NW 

Atlanta, GA 30318 

Investigation findings: The U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division found that Atlanta United Interiors, a painting contractor, misclassified 32 painters as independent contractors and paid the affected employees straight-time rates for all hours worked. By doing so, the employer denied workers their additional half-time rate for hours over 40 in a workweek, an overtime violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act. 

Back wages recovered: $87,333 in back wages for 32 workers                                           

Quote: “Ensuring proper classification of employees is not just about compliance. Misclassifying workers as independent contractors strips them of their rightful benefits and protections,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Steven Salazar in Atlanta, Georgia. “Workers are entitled to the full extent of compensation and benefits afforded by law. We urge employers who do not understand the requirements to stay compliant with the laws to reach out to our office for answers.” 

Background: Atlanta United Interiors is a painting service company that launched in 2014 in Georgia. 

In Georgia, there are currently more than 7,000 workers owed more than $2.2 million recovered by the agency. Individuals can use the agency’s workers owed wages search tool 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.

Employers can contact the Wage and Hour Division 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.

Employers:    Detroit Body Guards Protection Unit LLC

                        Carla Bland, human resources director

Actions:          Fair Labor Standards Act complaint filing

Courts:           U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan

Investigation findings: On Dec. 13, 2023, the U.S. Department of Labor filed a complaint in federal court seeking a total of $47,439 in back wages and liquidated damages for 42 people employed by Detroit Body Guards Protection Unit LLC to provide armed guard services to marijuana dispensaries in metropolitan Detroit area. 

An investigation by the department’s Wage and Hour Division alleged the company paid “straight time” for all hours worked, including hours over 40 in a workweek when time and one-half their regular hourly rate-of-pay was required from at least October 2021 through April 2022. The company also treated some guards as exempt from overtime, all of which violated the Fair Labor Standards Act. 

In its complaint, the department named the company and its human resources director Carla Bland, who is responsible for the company’s day-to-day operations. 

Detroit Body Guards currently owes $25,587 in back wages to employees after the division found the employer shortchanged them from Aug. 11, 2019, through Oct. 10, 2021. In that case, Bland signed an agreement with the department to pay the back wages due and to future FLSA compliance. 

Quote: “Complying with federal wage laws in not an option,” said Wage and Hour District Director Timolin Mitchell in Detroit. “Federal regulations protect every worker’s right to be paid for hours they work and the overtime earned. The Department of Labor is committed to showing Detroit Body Guards Protection Unit LLC and other employers who violate the federal wage laws that they will be held accountable.”

Background: Learn more about the Wage and Hour Division, 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. Detroit Body Guards Protection Union LLC, Carla Bland

Civil Action No. 2:23-cv-13175

GRAND RAPIDS, MI – A federal court in Michigan has ordered the owner of a Haslett assisted living facility, 

who allegedly threatened to fire three employees after she suspected they cooperated with a U.S. Department of Labor investigation, to attend training on federal anti-retaliation regulations and pay back wages and damages.

On Dec. 11, 2023, District Judge Jane M. Beckering of the Western District of Michigan, Southern Division in Grand Rapids, issued the consent judgment and order requiring Safe Haven Assisting Living of Haslett LLC and owner Tamesha Porter to pay $16,500 in back wages and liquidated damages to the three affected former employees.

The action follows a February 2023 lawsuit filed by the department in relation to its Wage and Hour Division’s findings that, after the division reviewed 18 months of Safe Haven’s pay practices, Porter regularly threatened termination and tried to identify employees she believed had cooperated with investigators. After one of the employees resigned, Porter contacted their prospective employer and made claims of the employee’s misconduct at Safe Haven. 

“This case’s resolution restores back wages earned and compensates three workers harassed by Tamesha Porter for exercising their rights to cooperate with federal investigators, a clear violation of the workers’ protections under the Fair Labor Standards Act,” explained Wage and Hour Division District Director Mary O’Rourke in Grand Rapids, Michigan. 

The order also requires Safe Haven Assisted Living to display a fact sheet about the Fair Labor Standards Act’s anti-retaliation provisions and to distribute it to current and future employees. The facility must also provide neutral job references for the former employees.

“Tamesha Porter and Safe Haven Assisting Living of Haslett LLC have been held accountable for trying to threaten and intimidate employees during a U.S. Department of Labor investigation,” said Regional Solicitor of Labor Christine Heri in Chicago. “We will take all necessary actions to protect the legal rights of workers to their full pay and against retaliatory action.”             

The division’s review of Safe Haven’s payroll records from Aug. 16, 2020, through Dec. 12, 2021, found the company and Porter failed to pay the affected workers for breaks not taken because of work demands. By doing so, the employer violated the FLSA’s overtime provisions.

An earlier, Jan. 17, 2023, consent judgment issued by the federal court in Grand Rapids required Porter and Safe Haven Assisting Living of Haslett LLC to pay $15,238 in back wages and damages to six of the facility’s workers. Porter has made the payments. 

The Fair Labor Standards Act’s anti-retaliation clause forbids any person from terminating or in any other manner discriminating against any employee because of such employee’s protected activities, including filing a complaint or cooperating with a Wage and Hour Division investigation. 

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.

Walsh v. Safe Haven Assisted Living of Haslett LLC, Tamesha Porter 

U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan, Southern Division

Civil Action No.: 1:23-cv-00136