Employers:    Sparty Tacos LLC

                        TC Tacos LLC

                        GR Tacos LLC, operating as Barrio Tacos

                        Owner Jacob Hawley

Actions:          Fair Labor Standards Act complaint filing

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

Investigation findings: On Sept. 7, 2023, the department filed suit seeking a total of $823,324 – $411,662 in back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages – for 177 employees of Sparty Tacos in East Lansing, TC Tacos LLC in Traverse City and GR Tacos LLC in Grand Rapids, all of which operate as Barrio Tacos. The complaint follows an investigation by the department’s Wage and Hour Division involving alleged FLSA violations by the three restaurants and their owner Jacob Hawley.

Specifically, investigators found the employer:

• Required tipped workers to surrender a portion of their cash and credit card tips to managers after each shift. Managers then redistributed these tips to non-tipped employees, including kitchen staff.
• Failed to pay tipped employees the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. 
• Incorrectly paid tipped employees overtime based on the tip credit rate instead of the applicable minimum wage rate. 
• Failed to keep accurate records of employees’ hourly rates of pay and overtime premiums due.

The division also assessed Hawley and his three restaurants $23,904 in civil money penalties for the violations.

Quote: “Far too often, our investigators find restaurant industry employers violating the law when they fail to follow applicable wage laws for their employees. There are specific rules for paying tipped employees, for how tips must be distributed, for paying proper overtime and for keeping employment records,” explained Wage and Hour District Director Mary O’Rourke in Grand Rapids, Michigan. “Workers have the right to be paid fairly and fully for the jobs they do and employers must respect these rights.”

Background: Learn more about the Wage and Hour Division, including a search tool to use if you think you may be owed back wages collected by the division and how to file an online complaint. 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. Sparty Tacos LLC, TC Tacos LLC, GR Tacos LLC, dba Barrio Tacos, Jacob Hawley

Case number 1:23-cv-948

PHOENIX – The U.S. Department of Labor is asking employers in Arizona’s heavy and highway construction industries to participate in a survey to help the department’s Wage and Hour Division establish prevailing wage rates for construction workers employed on federally funded and federally assisted projects.

The Davis-Bacon Act and Related Acts directs the department to set 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 all heavy and highway construction projects in Arizona that occurred between Oct. 1, 2022, and Dec. 29, 2023. This is a statewide survey and is not limited to federally funded construction projects. The division will begin collecting data on Sept. 15, 2023, and conclude the survey on Jan. 15, 2024. 

The division encourages all stakeholders to participate in the survey. Participation in the survey process is critical to the publication of prevailing wage and fringe benefits that accurately reflect the rates paid. Complete determinations can reduce the need for contractors to request additional labor classifications. 

Letters will be sent to interested parties and contractors known to the division and will include directions on how to complete the survey. Employers are encouraged to  and to do so by Jan. 15, 2024. The Wage and Hour Division has improved the online data collection form. This new version is available for this survey. Those seeking to submit their information by mail should call (866) 236-2773 and request a form be mailed. All contractors and other interested parties are encouraged to participate and need not receive a letter to do so. Learn more about the surveys. 

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.  

The division will offer online briefings about the surveys and instructions for completing the survey on Sept. 26 and 28, as well as Oct. 17 and 19, 2023. Register to attend an upcoming briefing. 

HIXSON, TN – A U.S. Department of Labor investigation has led to the recovery of $17,006 for five workers of a Hixson restaurant that failed to pay them their correct overtime wages. 

Investigators from the Wage and Hour Division found that El Fogòn Inc., operator of El Fogòn Mexican Restaurant, calculated overtime rates using an incorrect rate for tipped employees. By doing so, the employer paid overtime at rates lower than required by the Fair Labor Standards Act. 

In addition, the division learned the employer did not have accurate records of hours worked for employees, denied overtime pay to employees whose hours were unrecorded and others not on the payroll.

“Employers who fail to pay full legal wages to their employees gain an unfair advantage over their law-abiding competitors,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Lisa Kelly in Nashville, Tennessee. “Our investigation into El Fogòn’s pay practices has recovered an average of $3,400 per employee, a meaningful amount of money for workers who rely mostly on tips to make ends meet.”

Agency investigators received information about the employer’s pay practices through the Employment, Education, and Outreach alliance. The alliance is a collaboration of community organizations, state, local and federal agencies and Hispanic consulates that provides information and assistance to Spanish-speaking employees and employers regarding workplace rights and responsibilities. Its toll-free hotline is answered in Spanish and connects callers with an organization, consulate, state or federal agency to address their labor-related concern or question.

“Our EMPLEO alliance helps to reach workers who may be unaware of their legal rights as employees or fearful about raising their concerns,” Kelly added. “The Wage and Hour Division offers resources to employers and employees in many languages to help them understand their responsibilities and rights under the law.”

Employees and employers can also contact the Wage and Hour Division at its toll-free number, 1-866-4-US-WAGE (487-9243) or the EMPLEO hotline by calling (877) 522-9832 or (877) 55-AYUDA. Workers 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 the Wage and Hour Division, including a search tool to use, in English and Spanish, if you think you may be 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 iPhone Timesheet App – now available in Spanish – for free.

Read this news release En Español.

Employer:                       Sharky’s Vintage Park LLC

                                             operating as Sharky’s American Grill & Sharky’s Waterfront Grill LLC

Investigation sites:    Corporate headquarters

                                              2605 W Lake Houston Parkway

                                              Kingwood, TX 77339                                

Investigation findings: Investigator with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division found minimum wage violations after Sharky’s deducted pay from 66 employees wages for uniforms which caused their pay rate to fall below minimum wage rates for all hours worked. Additionally, the employer failed to pay 81 workers the correct over time rate. The Fair Labor Standards Act requires all nonexempt employees to make at least the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour and time-and-a-half their regular rate of pay for hours over 40 a week.

Back Wages and Damages Recovered:       $23,479 in back wages

                                                                        $23,479 in liquidated damages                                               

Quote: “People employed by the restaurant industry often work long hours to support themselves and their families. They have the right to be paid all of their earned wages,” said Wage and Hour Division Acting District Director Nicole Sellers  in Houston. “Companies are obligated to pay employees their full legally earned wages and must understand their legal responsibilities. Trained Wage and Hour professionals are available to assist employers who are unsure of regulations to avoid compliance issues.”

Background: Employers can contact the Wage and Hour Division at its toll-free number, 1-866-4-US-WAGE. The division also offers numerous online resources for employers, such as a fact sheet on Fair Labor Standards Act wage laws overtime requirements. Workers who feel they may not be getting the wages they earned 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 alike can help ensure hours worked and pay are accurate by downloading the department’s Android Timesheet App for free.

Learn more about Wage and Hour Division.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today proposed a new rule that would strengthen protections for farm workers in the H-2A program and help prevent abuses that undermine wages and standards for all agricultural workers.

The proposed rule would add new protections for worker self-advocacy, better protect workers against retaliation, make foreign labor recruitment more transparent and enhance the department’s enforcement. This proposal builds on a final rule the department published in October 2022 that modernized key aspects of the H-2A program.

“Farm workers are vital to our farmers, our food supply and our communities,” said Acting Secretary Julie Su. “This proposed rule would strengthen protections for H-2A farm workers who are particularly vulnerable to labor abuses, empower them to advocate for fair treatment and ensure that their employment does not depress labor standards and undercut domestic farm workers. The administration is committed to protecting all workers, and this proposal would significantly advance that effort.”

The proposed rule includes:

• Adding new protections for worker self-advocacy. The proposed rule would improve workers’ ability to advocate for better working conditions by expanding and clarifying existing anti-retaliation protections. The proposed rule would also expand workers’ rights to invite and accept guests – including labor organizations – to employer-provided housing. Additionally, for workers not protected by the National Labor Relations Act, the proposed rule would require employers to provide a list of workers to a requesting labor organization, permit workers to designate a representative to attend any meeting between a worker and the employer where the worker reasonably believes that the meeting may lead to discipline, and prohibits employers from holding captive audience meetings unless the employer provides certain information to ensure that such meetings are not coercive. The proposal would also create greater transparency for workers about their prospective employers’ stance on their right to organize freely and without interference by requiring employers seeking to hire H-2A workers to provide a certification to the Department of Labor that the employer will bargain in good faith over the terms of a proposed labor neutrality agreement with a requesting labor organization or will explain why they will not do so.
• Clarifying when a termination is “for cause.” The proposed rule would clarify that an employer only terminates a worker “for cause” when the worker either fails to meet pre-specified productivity standards or fails to comply with employer policies after the employer applies a system of progressive discipline. The proposal would establish six conditions to terminate a worker for cause, including that the employee has been informed of, or reasonably should have known, the employer’s policy, rule or productivity standards. Clarifying the meaning of the term “for cause” in existing regulations is important because termination “for cause” generally strips affected workers of their right to be offered work hours of at least three-quarters of the contract period and right to outbound transportation. For U.S. workers, termination “for cause” also strips them of their right to be contacted for employment in the subsequent year.
• Making foreign labor recruitment more transparent. In line with concerns expressed by workers’ rights and anti-trafficking organizations, the Government Accountability Office and the department’s Office of Inspector General, the department has found that increased transparency is necessary to help protect agricultural workers from predatory practices during the recruitment process. The proposed rule would require employers to provide a copy of all agreements with any agent or recruiter the employer engages in recruiting prospective H-2A workers to the department, regardless of whether the agent is in the U.S. or abroad. The proposed rule would also require employers to identify and disclose the name and location of anyone soliciting H-2A workers on their behalf.
• Making wages more predictable. The proposed rule would make wages more predictable in the H-2A program by making new wage rates applicable immediately upon their publication in the Federal Register rather than weeks later. This will ensure that agriculture workers are paid the most up-to-date wages as soon as possible. The rule would also require employers who fail to provide adequate notice to workers of a delay in their start date to pay workers the applicable rate for each day that work is delayed for up to 14 days. The proposal would further require enhanced transparency for employers to communicate minimum productivity standards, applicable wage rates, overtime opportunities and delayed start dates to workers.
• Improving workers’ access to safe transportation, including seat belts. Workers in the H-2A program often travel long distances to and from the worksite in crowded vans and buses, sometimes driven by workers who worked all day, raising grave concerns about transportation safety. The proposed rule would add a seat belt requirement to reduce these hazards. For vehicles that are required by the Department of Transportation to be manufactured with seat belts, the proposed rule would prohibit the use of any employer-provided vehicle to transport H-2A workers unless each occupant is wearing a seat belt before the vehicle is operated, except in specific circumstances.
• Enhancing enforcement to improve program integrity. The proposed rule would increase the speed with which the debarment of any business that violates H-2A program rules becomes effective by streamlining deadlines for Office of Foreign Labor Certification integrity and Wage and Hour Division enforcement actions. The proposed rule would also make it easier for the workforce system to discontinue necessary recruitment services for employers who have failed to meet program requirements. Finally, the proposed rule would prohibit employers from holding or confiscating a worker’s passport, visa, or other immigration or government identification documents.

Upon publication in the Federal Register, the notice of proposed rulemaking will be open for public comment for 60 days. The department will consider all comments received before publishing a final rule.

Learn more about the proposed rule and instructions for submitting comments.

HONOLULU – The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered $693,100 in back wages and damages after its investigations determined a Georgia-based prime contractor schemed to deny payment of overtime wages to 110 construction workers from 12 states employed on several hotel renovation projects in Honolulu between 2019 and 2022.

Investigators with the department’s Wage and Hour Division found S&A Industries Inc. of Suwanee, Georgia paid the affected workers straight-time rates for all hours worked, and used a series of illegal payment arrangements to avoid paying overtime wages for hours over 40 in a workweek. The workers were employed by seven subcontractors to complete various renovation projects at Hilton and Marriott resorts.

The division determined S&A violated the Fair Labor Standards Act by failing to pay overtime for hours over 40 in workweek to people employed on its projects. The contractor used various pay schemes with their subcontractors that resulted in artificially lower wage rates being paid to workers.

In addition to recovering $346,550 in back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages, the department assessed S&A Industries with $40,000 in civil money penalties for its repeated and willful FLSA violations. Wages and damages recovered range from $1,207 to $28,177 per worker.

“Our investigation found a blatant and prolonged effort by S&A Industries and their subcontractors to deprive 110 construction workers of their hard-earned overtime wages,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Terence Trotter in Honolulu. “Employers can’t establish separate agreements with workers that don’t meet at least the legal standards for wage payments, especially regarding overtime pay for hours worked over 40 in a workweek.”

“Construction cost savings on resort renovation projects can't be taken out of the workers' pockets,” Trotter added. “Overtime earned should be overtime paid.”

The investigation included a review of pay practices by six Georgia subcontractors including ESL Remodeling Corp., Pure Painting Inc. in Lawrenceville; A&A Floors and Counters Hotel Services LLC and PJ Tile Marble LLC in Marietta; Gerb-One Industries LLC in Conyers; and Dynasty Industries Inc. in Stone Mountain. The seventh contractor is Merced Renovations LLC in Manvel, Texas.

Founded by company President Daoud Shakkour and Executive Vice President Ahmed Aboneaaj, S&A Industries Inc. is a prime construction contractor specializing in hotel and resort renovation. Its projects include properties in Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri and South Carolina.

In fiscal year 2022, the division recovered more than $32.9 million in back wages for 17,127 construction industry workers. The division completed more than 2,200 investigations in FY22 in the construction industry and by wages recovered, the industry ranks first among the low wage, high violation industries investigated by the division.  

For more information about the FLSA and other laws enforced by the Wage and Hour Division, contact the division’s toll-free helpline confidentially at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). The department can speak with callers in more than 200 languages, regardless of where they are from.

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

NORRISTOWN, PA – A federal court in Pennsylvania has entered a consent judgment ordering a Norristown restaurant and its owners to pay $252,579 in back wages and liquidated damages to 21 employees, an action that follows a federal investigation that found the employers denied proper overtime pay intentionally.

The department’s Wage and Hour Division found College Pizza Inc., operating as Olympia Pizzeria, and owners Dimitrios Efthimiou and Stravos Efthimiou did not pay kitchen workers time and one-half for hours over 40 in a workweek.

Investigators discovered that the employers tried to conceal their violations by paying cash wages to two employees and by not recording their hours worked or amounts paid. They also paid other kitchen staff a portion of their hours on payroll and the remainder in cash, neither of which included required overtime pay, and paid four other kitchen staff straight-time rates for overtime hours.

The division also found Olympia Pizzeria lacked an accurate record of all employees’ hours worked and learned the restaurant violated the Fair Labor Standards Act’s child labor provisions by employing two children too young to work as delivery drivers.

“Olympia Pizzeria denied its workers their rightful wages by not paying them overtime as required by federal law. Unfortunately, this type of violation is common in the food service industry and deprives too many hard-working people of their full pay,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director James Cain in Philadelphia. “Employers have a legal obligation to properly pay their employees, as well as protect the young workers they employ.”

In addition to the back wages and damages, the judgment requires Olympia Pizzeria, Efthimiou and Efthimiou to pay $14,360 in civil money penalties for the willful overtime violations and $4,266 for the child labor violations.

“The U.S. Department of Labor is committed to using all available enforcement tools to ensure that workers are afforded the protections required by the Fair Labor Standards Act,” said Deputy Regional Solicitor of Labor Samantha Thomas in Philadelphia.

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.

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). Download the agency’s new Timesheet App for iOS and Android devices – free and now available in Spanish – to track hours and pay.

Employers:    Urgent Dental Center Avon LLC

Actions:          Fair Labor Standards Act consent judgment and order

Courts:           U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, Indianapolis Division

Investigation findings: On Aug. 22, 2023, Judge Richard L. Young ordered Urgent Dental Center Avon LLC and a human resources manager to pay a terminated employee $12,160 in back wages and liquidated damages and an additional $10,000 in punitive damages.

The judgment resolves a complaint filed by the U.S. Department of Labor on April 25, 2023, after an investigation by the Wage and Hour Division found the Indianapolis company violated the FLSA when they retaliated against an employee who filed a complaint alleging wage violations.

Investigators found that after filing the complaint with the Wage and Hour Division, the employee received an increase in disciplinary write ups, management made negative comments about the employee to other employees, and wrongfully terminated the employee shortly after they filed a complaint with the Wage and Hour Division.  

Quote: “Workers have the right to file complaints without fear of retaliation. The judge found that Urgent Dental Center Avon LLC and a manager there violated an employee’s right to question the employer’s pay practices, and then retaliated against them illegally,” said Wage and Hour District Director Aaron Loomis in Indianapolis. “Every U.S. worker has right to be paid fully for the hours they work and to engage in protected activities.”

Background: Learn more about the Wage and Hour Division, including a search tool to use if you think you may be owed back wages collected by the division and how to file an online complaint. 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. Urgent Dental Center Avon LLC

Case number 1:23-cv-704

NEW ORLEANS – The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a consent judgment requiring the operator of a New Orleans-area home healthcare agency to pay 80 workers a total of $630,000 in back wages and damages after the employer misclassified them as independent contractors.

Entered in the U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Louisiana on June 12, 2023, the judgment against Parishes Supportive Living Inc. and owner Belinda Vining-Trepagnier follows an investigation by the department’s Wage and Hour Division that found the employers’ misclassification denied overtime pay and other benefits and protections to employees assigned to the agency’s locations in Metairie and Hammond in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

The division’s review of the employer’s pay practices from December 2019 to December 2022 found Parishes Supportive Living willfully failed to pay overtime wages for hours over 40 in a workweek, as required by law.

“Companies will be held accountable for denying workers their earned wages by misclassifying them as independent contractors,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Troy Mouton in New Orleans. “Care industry workers provide vital services, and they deserve every cent that the law requires.”

In addition to payment of back wages and damages, the employers must retain an independent third-party auditor to review the company’s payroll and pay practices for a three-year period and prepare status reports on the employer’s ongoing FLSA compliance.

Parishes Supportive Living Inc. provides workers who offer clients home care, meal preparation, light household cleaning, personal hygiene assistance, transportation, medication reminders and other related home care services.

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 and employers 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).

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

PHILADELPHIA – A federal investigation of the pay practices of a Philadelphia wholesaler has led the U.S. Department of Labor to obtain a consent judgment in federal court, requiring the employers to pay $419,615 to 21 workers deliberately denied overtime wages.

On August 30, 2023, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia approved a consent judgment requiring Byun Brothers Sales Inc. and president Richard Byun to pay the back wages and damages by September 29, 2023. The action follows an investigation by the department’s Wage and Hour Division.

The division found the employers paid people employed as baggers and loaders a day rate and others employed as general laborers a day rate or salary. They also failed to pay the affected employees overtime for hours over 40 in a work week, violating the Fair Labor Standards Act. The employers also violated the FLSA by failing to keep accurate records of the hours worked and amounts paid to employees.

 “B&B Sales and its owner intentionally withheld overtime wages earned by 21 hard-working employees, in violation of federal law that protects their rights to be paid fully for their labor,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director James Cain in Philadelphia. “Wage theft harms employees and puts employers who comply with the law at a competitive disadvantage. The employers in this case have learned that the consequences for violating federal labor laws are serious and costly.”

The court ordered Byun Brothers Sales Inc., operating as B&B Sales, and Byun to pay $209,807 in back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages. The employers must also pay the department $8,379 in civil money penalties for the willful nature of their violations.

 “The outcome of this investigation and the litigation that followed will provide meaningful financial relief to vulnerable workers who depend on their wages to make ends meet,” explained Deputy Regional Solicitor of Labor Samantha Thomas in Philadelphia. “The U.S. Department of Labor will use every tool available to make sure workers’ rights are protected and to enforce the law.”

The division’s Philadelphia District Office conducted the investigation. Senior Trial Attorney Andrea Luby with the department’s Office of the Solicitor in Philadelphia filed the complaint and secured the consent judgment.

Located in Philadelphia, B&B Sales wholesales food and other grocery items for small convenience stores in the region.

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 division confidentially with questions or concerns – regardless of where they are from – and the department can speak with callers in more than 200 languages. Help ensure hours worked and pay are accurate by downloading the department’s Android and iOS Timesheet App for free in English or Spanish.

Read this news release En Español.