LOS ANGELES – Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su delivered the keynote address at CareFest, a gathering of entertainment, philanthropy and business and government leaders focused on the future of care held Nov. 2, 2023.  

“As we build our nation’s infrastructure, we know that a strong, secure care infrastructure is just as important as America’s roads and bridges,” said Acting Secretary Su in her keynote address. 
 

During her remarks, Su also announced that the U.S. Department of Labor has published sample employment agreements for domestic workers, including house cleaners, home care workers and nannies. These informal and non-binding agreements serve only as tools for employers and domestic workers to begin conversations and create shared understandings of potential terms of employment.

“Today, we take an important step in delivering on the President’s vision,” explained Acting Secretary Su. “In the past, too many care workers haven’t had an agreement as they started their job to set their responsibilities or their rate-of-pay or the quality of their working conditions. Today, the Department of Labor is releasing sample employment agreements for cleaners, home care workers and nannies who are employed by private households.”  

These sample agreements coincide with President Biden’s Executive Order on Increasing Access to High-Quality Care and Supporting Caregivers, which directed federal agencies to “make all efforts to improve jobs and support for caregivers, increase access to affordable care for families and provide more care options for families.” Specifically, the order called on the Secretary of Labor to develop compliance assistance and best practices for domestic care workers and their employers to promote fair workplaces and ensure the parties know their rights and responsibilities.

Provisions in the sample agreements announced today provide examples of the types of terms and conditions of employment that employers and employees may choose to consider for use by both parties in private contracts. 

Sample contract agreements can be downloaded from the department’s Women’s Bureau website. 

ATLANTA – As part of an effort to address wage-related violations by the Southeast’s care industries’ employers, the U.S. Department of Labor will hold a webinar on workers’ rights and protections for home care, residential care and nursing care industry employers, workers and other stakeholders in the Southeast.

On Nov. 13, the department’s Wage and Hour Division will present “Caring for Those Who Care: Labor Rights for Workers in the Care Industry,” in an ongoing education and enforcement initiative to improve employer compliance in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. The event will occur as the nation marks Home Care and Hospice Month in November.

Division representatives will collaborate with the Women’s Bureau and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to offer an overview of federal protections for care workers to help employers, workers and their advocates understand their respective responsibilities and rights. The event will be held from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. EST. Attendance is free but registration is required.

“Our nation’s ability to provide care for the most vulnerable people in our communities depends on truly dedicated workers in the growing care industry,” said Wage and Hour Division Regional Administrator Juan Coria in Atlanta. “The U.S. Department of Labor is committed to collaborating with partners like the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to ensure care workers in the Southeast receive all of their protections. Denying workers these protections hurts workers and their families and it harms the region’s economy when they have less to spend.” 

In fiscal year 2022, the Wage and Hour Division concluded more than 1,100 investigations in health care industries. These investigations recovered nearly $15 million in back wages for more than 22,000 workers.

The division’s initiative focuses resources on educating care workers and their communities about their rights to minimum wage and overtime pay and how to file a complaint if they believe their rights have been violated. The initiative also targets the misclassification of employees as independent contractors, an illegal practice that may deprive workers of legally earned wages and other protections.

“This presentation is part of our ongoing compliance assistance and enforcement initiative to reduce employer violations in the Southeast’s care industries. For those unable to attend, we remind everyone that many compliance resources are just a few online clicks away. These resources are available at no cost to employers and workers. If needed, our staff and outreach professionals are also ready to assist,” Coria added. 

Register for Caring for Those Who Care: Labor Rights for Workers in the Care Industry.

The division offers multiple compliance assistance resources to provide employers the tools they need to comply with the law. Employers and workers alike can call the division’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243) to find out about upcoming compliance assistance events, request information or ask specific questions. The division will confidentially address questions – regardless of where a caller is from – and the department can speak with callers in more than 200 languages.

Learn more about the Wage and Hour Division and its searchable Workers Owed Wages database. Help ensure hours worked and pay are accurate by downloading the department’s Android and iOS Timesheet App for free, available in English or Spanish.

HARTFORD, CT – Numerous southeastern Connecticut residents rely on domestic caregivers for their daily living needs. While certain domestic workers were historically excluded from various protections provided by federal employment law, the Fair Labor Standards Act now entitles many of these workers to receive overtime wages when they work more than 40 hours in a workweek.

After an investigation and litigation by the U.S. Department of Labor, a federal court entered a consent judgment requiring a Waterford-based homecare service business, CareCo Shoreline Inc. – doing business as CareCo – and its owner Helga Pfanner, to pay a total of $92,150 in back wages and liquidated damages to 107 in-home caregivers. The back wages and liquidated damages, which cover the period from March 24, 2018, to Aug. 10, 2019, have been paid, and the department’s Wage and Hour Division is distributing them to the affected employees. Due to the violations’ willful and repeated nature, CareCo and Pfanner have also paid $80,000 in civil money penalties to the department. Read the consent judgment and order.

The consent judgment came in the wake of the department prevailing on its motion for partial summary judgment, in which the court granted summary judgment on CareCo’s overtime violations based on its own records, CareCo’s liability for liquidated damages and the willfulness of those overtime violations. Read the partial summary judgment order. 

“Caregivers work long hours, performing vital services for people in need. They deserve and have the right to be paid all the wages they have earned for their hard work,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Donald Epifano in Hartford, Connecticut. “Violations like those found in this case, which can harm essential workers, are preventable. The U.S. Department of Labor encourages all employers to contact their nearest Wage and Hour Division office for assistance with understanding their responsibilities under the law.”

The consent judgment resolving the case, entered in the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut, also permanently forbids CareCo and its owner from violating federal overtime and recordkeeping requirements, and from discharging or discriminating against any employee who takes part in an investigation or otherwise exercises their FLSA rights. The consent judgment also requires the employers to cooperate with and provide truthful information and records in response to any future FLSA investigations.

“Against the historical backdrop of domestic workers being excluded from certain protections provided by the Fair Labor Standards Act and what that exclusion has meant for generations of domestic workers, the U.S. Department of Labor will pursue all appropriate legal channels to ensure that employers comply with the law and their responsibilities to pay their employees properly,” said regional Solicitor of Labor Maia Fisher in Boston.

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. It also prohibits employers from firing or taking adverse action against employees for exercising their rights. Read more about protections for domestic service workers under the FLSA. 

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 in English or Spanish.

Su v. CareCo Shoreline Inc. d/b/a CareCo and Helga Pfanner

Civil Action No.  3:21-cv-00401-VAB

Employer:                              Jay and Krupa Inc., operating as Subway

                                                414 Gallatin Pike South

                                                Madison, TN 37115                           

Investigation findings: U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division investigators found the owner of a Madison Subway restaurant kept a portion of the employees’ earned credit card tips illegally, a violation of the tips provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act. The owner believed incorrectly that he could participate in the tip pool since he also worked at the restaurant. 

The division also determined the company did not maintain accurate time and tip records.

Investigators also learned Jay and Krupa Inc. employed two minor-aged employees but failed to have records that verified their birthdates, an FLSA child labor violation.

Back wages and liquidated damages recovered: The division recovered $16,666 in back wages and liquidated damages for 24 workers.                                  

Quote: “When it comes to employees’ tips, the bottom line is simple: tips are the property of employees who earn them. Under no circumstance may employers withhold workers’ tips,” explained Wage and Hour Division District Director Lisa Kelly in Nashville, Tennessee. “Restaurant industry workers often rely on tips to make up the difference for the typically low hourly wages and to make ends meet. Employers who deprive workers of hard and legally earned money may face costly consequences for violating federal 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 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.  

Employers:    Wiltshire Pantry Inc., 1310 East Breckinridge St., Louisville, KY 40204

Wiltshire Bakery and Café Highlands, 901 Barret Ave., Louisville, KY 40204

Wiltshire Bakery and Café Downtown, 605 W. Main St., Louisville, KY 40202

Wiltshire At The Speed, 2035 S. Third St., Louisville, KY 40208

Investigation findings: U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division investigators found the operator of four Louisville coffee shops permitted two managers to take a portion of servers’ tips. Provisions in the Fair Labor Standards Act forbid employers, managers or supervisors from participating in a tip pool.

Back Wages and Liquidated Damages Recovered: $72,564 to 34 workers.

Quote: “Under no circumstance may employers or supervisors participate in a tip pool,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Karen Garnett-Civils in Louisville, Kentucky. “The Fair Labor Standards Act prohibits managers and supervisors from keeping any portion of an employee’s tips for any purpose. Employers who have questions about their legal responsibilities should view the free resources on the Wage and Hour Division’s website or contact our staff for answers.” 

Background: Primarily a catering and event company, Wiltshire Pantry operates three other limited-service coffee shop and bakery locations in the Louisville area. This follows investigations of three other Louisville coffee shops – Please & Thank You LLC, Sunergos Coffee Ltd. Co. LLC and Heine Brothers – where agency investigators found employers illegally shared employee tips with managers. 

Employers can contact the Wage and Hour Division at its toll-free number, 866-4-US-WAGE. Learn more about the Wage and Hour Division, including the agency’s restaurants compliance assistance toolkit. 

Workers can call the Wage and Hour Division confidentially with questions and the department can speak with callers in more than 200 languages. Workers and employers alike can help ensure hours worked and pay are accurate by downloading the department’s Android Timesheet App for free, which is available in English and Spanish. 

Employer name:                Allandale Lawn & Landscape Inc.

 Investigation site:           2507 Twin Oaks Drive

                                                    Austin, TX 78757                                     

Investigation findings: The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division found Allandale Lawn & Landscape Inc., violated the Fair Labor Standards Act by failing to pay 35 workers time and one-half the regular rate of pay for hours over 40 in a workweek. The division also discovered the employer deducted a full hour of lunch every day, even though workers routinely took only a 45-minute lunch break. In addition, the division found the employer violated the FLSA’s recordkeeping provisions.

Back wages recovered: $57,518 in owed wages and $57,518 in liquidated damages to 35 workers, 10 of whom have yet to be located for payment. Workers who may be owed back wages for this or any other case can get more information at the Wage and Hour Division’s Workers Owed Wages website.                             

Quote: “Employers who don’t pay employees full wages may face costly consequences, including penalties. In this case, many workers will now receive unpaid wages and liquidated damages, which will make a big impact in their daily lives,” said Wage and Hour Division Acting District Director Rosalinda Huffman in Austin. “The Wage and Hour Division encourages workers to contact us if they believe their employer is not paying them all of their earned wages. If you think you may be owed back wages collected by this office, you can search our database of workers for whom we have money waiting to be claimed.”

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Employers’ names:   Konstantine Menegatos, Dairy Queen franchisee operating four New Jersey locations:

Bubbles and Cream LLC, 234 Park Ave., Rutherford

Shakes and Cakes LLC West Milford, 259 Marshall Hill Road, West Milford

Sprinkles and Cones LLC, 13 Kinderkamack Road, Emerson

Summer Beach Inc., 827 12th Ave., Belmar

Investigation findings: Investigators with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division found that Menegatos failed to pay one employee minimum wage and did not pay 14 workers the required time-and-a-half overtime premium for hours over 40 each workweek. The division also found the operator employed 15-year-old minors more than 3 hours on school days, more than 18 hours in weeks while school was in session, and until as late as 10 p.m., all of which violate child labor provisions in the Fair Labor Standards Act. The employer’s violations affected a total of 23 minors.

Back Wages Paid:                 $9,764 to 15 employees

Civil Money Penalties:         $14,006 for child labor violations

Quote: “Fast food franchises like Dairy Queen offer minor-aged workers valuable work experience, but federal law ensures that experience does not come at the expense of a young worker’s education or related activities,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Paula Ruffin in Mountainside, New Jersey. “The Wage and Hour Division offers many tools and resources to help employers understand how and when they may employ workers under age 18 to avoid compliance issues.”

The FLSA prohibits 14- and 15-year-old employees from working later than 9 p.m. from June 1 through Labor Day and past 7 p.m., the remainder of the year. Additionally, they cannot work more than 3 hours on a school day, 8 hours on a non-school day, more than 18 hours per week when school is in session, or more than 40 hours a week when school is not in session. 

To assist employers and inform young workers and their parents, the division recently published “Seven Child Labor Best Practices for Employers” 

For more information about the FLSA and other laws enforced by the Wage and Hour Division, contact the division’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). 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.

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Employers:     Garibaldi Restaurant LLC, operating as Garibaldi Mexican Restaurant

                         285 Columbiana Drive, Columbia, SC 29212

                         Supermercado El Mariachi LLC, operating as Supermercado El Mariachi – West Columbia

                         1078 Sunset Blvd., West Columbia, SC 29169

                         Supermercado El Mariachi 3 LLC, operating as Supermercado El Mariachi

                         1735 Decker Blvd., Columbia, SC 29206

Investigation findings: U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division investigators found two supermarkets and one restaurant – all owned in part by Jose Luis Telez – paid employees a fixed weekly salary for all hours worked. By doing so, the employer incurred a minimum wage violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act when workers’ salaries failed to meet the federal minimum wage for all hours worked. The employees’ salaries also did not include the required time-and-one-half rate for hours over 40 in a workweek, leading to overtime violations.

In addition, the agency found that the employer failed to pay some tipped servers at Garibaldi Restaurant at least the federal minimum wage. This violation occurred when the servers did not receive sufficient tips to cover the amount of the tip credit taken by the employer, resulting in their average hourly rate falling below $7.25 per hour and invalidating the employer’s tip credit. 

Back wages and liquidated damages recovered: The division recovered $391,935 in back wages and liquidated damages for 31 workers.                           

Quote: “Employers must use the existing federal and state laws in place that guide processes for paying workers, not misguided pay practices,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Jamie Benefiel in Columbia, South Carolina. “We encourage employers to contact the Wage and Hour Division with questions they may have on properly paying workers the wages they earned.”

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.  

BOSTON – The U.S. Department of Labor stands to recover more than $3.2 million in overtime back wages for more than 700 sales representatives of a Bedford, Massachusetts, plumbing supply company after a federal court agreed with the department and concluded on summary judgment that the employer misclassified the employees as exempt from overtime under the Fair Labor Standards Act. 

The parties then agreed to resolve the remainder of the case via a consent judgment, which also forbids the company from retaliating unlawfully against employees who exercise their rights to raise wage complaints with the department. F.W. Webb Co. has appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.

The department filed suit against F.W. Webb Co. in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts in 2020, claiming that the employer exempted employees from federal overtime protections improperly and seeking the back wages owed to the workers. The department also alleged that Webb retaliated unlawfully against employees when the company’s senior management sent instructions to employees during the department’s investigation that could have discouraged employees from speaking to the department’s investigators freely. The Department of Labor and F.W. Webb Co. moved for partial summary judgment.

On June 16, 2023, the district court entered summary judgment in favor of the department on the exemption issue, concluding that the inside sales representatives were not administratively exempt from the FLSA’s overtime requirements because they perform the very work that is F. W. Webb Co.’s primary business purpose, namely producing wholesale sales. The district court also found that the company had failed to pay the affected workers overtime back wages since August 2018 and violated recordkeeping provisions of the FLSA. 

On Aug. 24, 2023, the court entered a consent judgment and order, incorporating the summary judgment decision. In addition to payment of the back wages owed from Aug. 4, 2018, through June 30, 2023, the order prohibits F.W. Webb Co. from future violations of the FLSA’s overtime, recordkeeping and anti-retaliation provisions. 

Under the consent judgment F.W. Webb Co. preserved the right to appeal the court’s summary judgment decision, which it has done. The court also entered an order agreed to by the parties staying certain aspects of the consent judgment, including the requirement that Webb pay any overtime wages during the pendency of any appeal. F.W. Webb Co. has paid the more than $3.2 million in overtime back wages owed and will pay future overtime wages that accrue during the period of any appeal into an account with the court. Those wages will be distributed to employees if F.W. Webb Co.’s appeal is unsuccessful.  

“This case shows how aggressively the U.S. Department of Labor will litigate to prevent employers from denying employees their wages by misclassifying them as exempt and retaliating against them,” said Regional Solicitor of Labor Maia Fisher in Boston. “In this case, the court correctly concluded on summary judgment that F.W. Webb’s inside sales representatives are not administratively exempt under the Fair Labor Standards Act. In reaching that conclusion, the court applied the recent favorable decision the department obtained from the First Circuit in Walsh v. Unitil Service Corp.” 

The court’s actions follow an investigation by the department’s Wage and Hour Division and litigation by its Office of the Solicitor.

“Employees have a right to be paid their wages, to seek those wages and cooperate with investigators without fear of employer retaliation. The court’s summary judgment decision upholds the FLSA’s protections against employers misapplying the law’s administrative exemption to avoid paying overtime to employees and now opens the way for more than 700 F.W. Webb inside sales representatives to receive their hard-earned overtime wages,” said Wage and Hour Division Regional Administrator Mark Watson Jr. in Philadelphia. 

Based in Bedford, Massachusetts, F.W. Webb Co., which sells HVAC and plumbing and heating supplies, bathroom fixtures, pipe valves and fittings, and related equipment to contactors, industry professionals and homeowners, has wholesale establishments located in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont.

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. The division offers confidential compliance assistance to anyone with questions about how to comply with the law by calling the agency’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). The department can speak with callers in more than 200 languages, regardless of their immigration status. Download the agency’s new Timesheet App for iOS and Android devices – free and now available in Spanish – to ensure hours and pay are accurate.

Su v. F.W. Webb Co.

Civil Action No. 20-CV-11450-AK

Employer name:                 Rio Bravo Restaurant Inc., operating as Los Balones Sports Bar & Restaurant

 Investigation site:           2905 West Chapel Extension

                                                    Dallas, TX 75220

Investigation findings: The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division found Rio Bravo Restaurant Inc., operating as Los Balones Sports Bar & Restaurant, violated federal law by failing to pay four cooks time and one-half the regular rate of pay for hours over 40 per workweek. The division discovered the employer paid straight time for all hours worked to four cooks who worked from 50 to 60 hours per workweek.

Back wages recovered: $34,135 in owed wages and $34,135 in liquidated damages to four workers 

Quote: “The department’s investigation disclosed violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act’s overtime provisions,” said Wage and Hour District Director Jesus A. Valdez in Dallas. “The cooks at Los Balones Sports Bar & Restaurant worked 50 to 60 hours in a single workweek without overtime. Employers are encouraged to contact us should they have questions or concerns about overtime regulations.”

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