SEATTLE – A federal investigation into employees working off-the-clock during meal breaks by one of the world’s largest security and facility services providers led to the recovery of nearly $1.1 million in back wages and liquidated damages for 778 employees and a nationwide enhanced agreement to comply with the Fair Labor Standards Act’s overtime and recordkeeping provisions.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division found Universal Protection Service LP – operating as Allied Universal Security Services – deducted 45 minutes from employees’ workdays automatically but often required security workers to remain at their posts for all or some of the meal breaks. Division investigators learned the employer failed to make proper adjustments to employees’ hours when they worked during these breaks, which violated federal overtime and recordkeeping regulations. 

At the time of the investigation, the employer had assigned the affected employees to work on site at Amazon’s Seattle headquarters. 

The division recovered $549,947 in back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages for the employees. The department also assessed Allied Universal Security Services $50,000 in civil money penalties. In the past five years, the division has investigated this employer approximately 200 times at locations nationwide and found the company violated FLSA requirements in most cases. 

“As one of the nation’s largest private-sector employers, Allied Universal Security Services has a responsibility to make sure they pay their employees all of their legally earned wages,” explained Wage and Hour Division District Director Thomas Silva in Seattle. “Our investigation found the company made improper deductions from security employees’ work hours for meal breaks when, in fact, the employer often told them to remain at their posts or to work during these breaks.”

After a separate investigation by the department’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs into hiring practices at one of the company’s Houston locations from 2016 through 2017, the employer agreed to pay $411,000 in back wages to 1,459 Black applicants to resolve alleged systemic racial hiring discrimination. 

Founded in 1957 as Allied Security, Allied Universal now operates in about 90 countries and employs about 800,000 people globally. The company has corporate headquarters in Irvine, California; and Conshohocken, Pennsylvania; and provides security personnel, monitoring equipment, response units and secure prisoner transportation. 

In fiscal year 2022, the Wage and Hour Division recovered more than $3.9 million in back wages for more than 4,600 workers in the guard services industry. 

Learn more about the Wage and Hour Division, including its search tool to learn if you are owed back wages collected by the division. 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. 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:           Kale Stems LLC, doing business as Stoneacre Brasserie; Chive Blossom LLC, doing business as Stoneacre Garden; Radish Patch LLC, doing business as Stoneacre Tapas; Christopher Bender and David Crowell.

Background:                          The department filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island alleging that, between April 13, 2016, and at least Jan. 4, 2021, the employers violated the FLSA when Stoneacre Brasserie, Stoneacre Tapas, Bender and Crowell improperly included managers and owners in tip pools and failed to pay the front-of-house employees who participated in the tip pools the federal minimum wage. The defendants failed to pay employees at one and one-half times their regular rates of pay for all hours over 40 in a workweek and did not maintain required records of the hours that employees worked. The lawsuit followed an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division.

Resolution:                             The Consent Judgment and Order enjoins the employers from violating the FLSA and recovers $283,061 in back wages and tips they failed to pay employees, as well as $270,519 in liquidated damages, for a total of $553,580. The court also ordered the employers to pay the department $11,419 in civil money penalties. 

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

Docket Number:                   Civil Action No. 1:22-cv-00289-MSM-LDA

Quotes:                                  “The outcome of this litigation should serve as a reminder to employers that the U.S. Department of Labor will take appropriate action, including litigation, on behalf of workers when employers deny them wages and tips required by federal law,” said Regional Solicitor of Labor Maia Fisher in Boston.

“The U.S. Department of Labor provides numerous tools to help employers understand their responsibilities and comply with the law to avoid costly violations like those in this case,” said Wage and Hour District Director Donald Epifano. 

The division’s Providence Area Office conducted the investigation. The Boston Regional Office of the Solicitor litigated the case for the department.

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 their 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.

WILLIAMSBURG, VA – The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a consent judgment in a Virginia federal court to recover $205,180 in back wages and liquidated damages from a Williamsburg restaurant that shortchanged 62 employees of their overtime wages intentionally.

The court action follows an investigation by the department’s Wage and Hour Division that found FFT Restaurant Group LLC, operator of Food for Thought and owner Howard Hopkins paid kitchen staff straight-time rates for all hours worked, including hours over 40 in a workweek, which denied them required overtime rates. The employers also failed to keep accurate records of employees’ hours worked and did not display federal minimum wage posters as required. These actions violated the Fair Labor Standards Act.

“Our investigation found that the employer did not pay some employees their hard-earned overtime pay, which is unacceptable,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Roberto Melendez in Richmond, Virginia. “Many restaurant workers struggle to make ends meet and they deserve to be paid for all hours worked. Employers who shortchange their employees will be held accountable.”

The order entering the consent judgment in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia in Newport News on October 4, 2023, requires the company and Hopkins to pay $102,590 in back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages. They must also pay $50,034 in civil money penalties for the intentional nature of their violations. The order forbids them from future FLSA violations.

“The Department of Labor remains committed to using all litigation tools, including consent judgments, to recover all workers’ hard-earned wages. This case should remind other restaurant employers that violating the law leads to costly consequences,” said Angela France, an attorney in the department’s Office of the Solicitor in Arlington, Virginia. 

Food for Thought is a full-service restaurant located at 1647 Richmond Road in Williamsburg.

For more information about the FLSA and other laws the division enforces, contact its 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. Workers can call the Wage and Hour 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.

This news release is also available in Spanish.

Employer:      BBQ Ookook Inc., operating as Oo-Kook Korean BBQ

                        3385 W. Eighth St.

Los Angeles, CA 90005                                                                                                        

Investigation findings: An investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division found the Koreatown restaurant employer allowed a manager to take portions of the tips left by customers, a violation of tip pool requirements under the Fair Labor Standards Act. 

Investigators determined that Oo-Kook Korean BBQ allowed a manager to take part in a tip pool and determined that, from April 2021 through October 2022, they kept more than $28,000 in workers’ tips. 

This is the third time the division has found this employer violated federal labor laws. Specifically, the division recovered $5,300 in back wages for 14 employees after a 2012 investigation. A 2020 investigation at another restaurant operated by the employer in La Mirada recovered $16,253 owed to one employee.

Back Wages Recovered:       $28,213 in unpaid tips for 35 employees

$28,213 in liquidated damages for 35 employees

Civil Money Penalties:         $10,103 in civil money penalties given the employer’s history of violations

Quote: “Restaurant employers are responsible for ensuring that workers receive all the wages they earn, including tips,” said Wage and Hour Division Assistant District Director Siriporn Poondee in Los Angeles. “We encourage all employers in this industry to use the online tools we offer to help them comply with the law or to call us for assistance.” 

Background: This investigation is the result of the department’s cross-regional Food Services Workers Initiative, which aims to advance workplace equity and reach essential workers through collaboration with local stakeholders. The agency’s outreach and collaboration with the Koreatown Immigrant Workers Alliance played a critical role in the investigation’s successful conclusion. 

The department’s Quick Service Restaurants Compliance Assistance Toolkit explains wage laws for the industry. Learn more about the Wage and Hour Division.

ORLANDO, FL – The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered $224,113 in lost wages and benefits for 37 Florida workers after finding two employers failed to pay fringe benefits and prevailing and overtime wages to employees working on a new Veterans Affairs multi-specialty outpatient clinic in Daytona Beach.

The recovery follows investigations by the department’s Wage and Hour Division that found violations of the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts and the Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act for work being performed on a federally funded project. 

Specifically, investigators found M.C.A. Communications Inc. failed to pay electricians their fringe benefits and the full prevailing wage for all hours worked. The Houston-based employer also used a rate lower than the prevailing wage rate to compute overtime, allowing them to pay overtime rates lower than required by law. M.C.A. Communications also failed to track accrued, paid sick leave. The division’s investigation recovered $42,729 for eight workers. 

A second employer, EBP Electric Services Corp. in Plant City did not pay electricians fringe benefits and prevailing wages for all hours worked and failed to track and pay sick leave hours. The division recovered $181,384 from EBP for 29 workers to resolve the employer’s violations. 

“Government contractors must ensure their workers are paid the required wages and fringe benefits they have earned on federally funded construction projects,” explained Wage and Hour Division Deputy Regional Administrator Wildalí De Jesús in Orlando, Florida. “Employers and workers can contact our office to learn about their obligations and rights under the law or attend any of our upcoming online compliance seminars. These violations are avoidable.”

The U.S. Department of Labor offers online compliance seminars for contracting agencies, contractors,  workers and other stakeholders to provide information on recent updates to regulations governing employment practices for federally funded contracts. 

Founded in 1983, M.C.A. Communications Inc. is a telecommunications contractor servicing commercial construction projects. The Plant City-based EBP Electric Services Corp. was incorporated in 2021.

The Wage and Hour Division offers numerous resources for employers and workers alike, including information about the DBRA, the agency’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243) and webinars that take place throughout the year. Workers and employers can call the 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 if you think you may be owed back wages collected by the division.

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.

PHOENIX – A federal court has ordered a Phoenix industrial laundry and dry-cleaning company to pay a total of $281,870 after the U.S. Department of Labor found the employer engaged in a kickback scheme after the department recovered more than $94,135 in overtime wages for 70 workers in 2020. 

The court’s action follows an investigation by the department’s Wage and Hour Division that found Fox Real Estate Group Inc. — operating as Sparklean Laundry and Piper — and owner Benjamin Piper denied its employees overtime for hours over 40 in a workweek. After the investigation, the employers agreed to pay the overtime back wages. Shortly thereafter, they began demanding kickbacks from its employees, submitted false receipts showing that it paid the recovered wages and threatened workers for exercising their labor rights.

In response, the department sought and obtained a consent judgment and order on Oct. 11, 2023, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona, requiring the employers to pay the remaining $87,735 in back wages. The court also ordered the company to pay the workers $94,135 in liquidated damages and an additional $100,000 in punitive damages. 

“Workplace retaliation is intolerable and illegal, and demanding that employees return their hard-earned wages to their employer is among the most egregious types of retaliation we regrettably see,” said Regional Solicitor of Labor Marc Pilotin in San Francisco. “The Department of Labor will use all of its tools to combat retaliation, including through requiring employers who retaliate to compensate workers above and beyond the wages their workers are owed.” 

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 times the regular rate of pay for all hours over 40 in a workweek. Learn more about the Wage and Hour Division and workers’ rights, including a search tool to use if you think you may be owed back wages collected by the division.

“This was a clear case where punitive damages were appropriate against the employer, which both violated federal law and broke its promises to the department,” Pilotin added.

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.

This news release is also available in Spanish. 

Julie A. Su, Acting Secretary of Labor, U.S. Department of Labor vs. Fox Real Estate Group Inc., dba Sparklean Laundry, an Illinois corporation; Benjamin Piper, an individual 

Case 2:23-cv-02034-ROS

Employer:      Macarios Inc., Los Primos Inc., Dos Oros Inc., operating as Mayan Mexican Restaurant

                        4520 Pacific Ave. SE

                         Lacey, WA 98503                                                                                                     

Investigation findings: An investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division found the restaurant employer failed to pay workers their full earnings in violation of overtime requirements under the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Investigators determined that Jose Sanchez, owner of three Mayan Mexican Restaurants operating under different corporate names in Lacey, Washington, denied 20 workers their overtime pay for hours worked beyond 40 in a workweek. Instead, the employer paid overtime hours at regular rates and failed to combine all hours worked at different locations for purposes of overtime pay calculation. The division also found a minor-aged employee had worked more hours than permitted on school days and beyond the allowable times, in violation of FLSA’s child labor regulations.

Back Wages Recovered:       $52,923 in unpaid overtime wages for 20 employees

                                                 $52,923 in damages for 20  employees                                             

                                                 $6,440 in civil money penalties

Quote: “Restaurant employees work hard to make ends meet for themselves and their families. This restaurant willfully violated federal overtime and child labor regulations by underpaying employees and having a minor work beyond the allowable hours,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Thomas Silva in Seattle. “We urge employers in this industry to review their employment practices and avoid costly consequences for violating the law.”

Context: 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 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 over 40 in a workweek. Learn more about the Wage and Hour Division and workers’ rights, including a search tool to use if you think you may be owed back wages collected by the division.

Employers and workers can call division staff confidentially with questions, regardless of where they are from, and the department can speak with callers confidentially 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 devices, available in English and Spanish, to help track work hours and pay.

Lea en Español

Employers:    Great Lakes Care Companions Inc., Juan G. Salazar, owner

Actions:          Fair Labor Standards Act consent order and judgment

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

Investigation findings: On Oct. 13, 2023, Judge Mark A. Goldsmith entered an agreed consent order and judgment requiring Great Lakes Care Companions Inc., and its owner, Juan G. Salazar to pay a total of  $95,074 in back wages, liquidated damages, and interest to 34 workers. Prior to the execution of the consent order and judgment, the company paid $31,791 of the back wages owed. The company and Salazar agreed to pay the remaining amount including $1,225 in interest by Sept. 20, 2024.

An investigation by the department’s Wage and Hour Division alleged the Filion, Michigan home health care services provider failed to pay care workers overtime at time and one-half their regular rate of pay for hours over 40 in a workweek from at least Aug. 1, 2019 to July 31, 2021, a violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act. 

The company and Salazar are also required to distribute informational materials to employees concerning their rights under the FLSA and were ordered not to violate the act in the future.

The department’s office of the solicitor filed a complaint on Nov. 30, 2022.

Quote: “Healthcare companions provide valuable services that allow their clients to remain in their homes and maintain their dignity. This is historically an industry that has low-paid workers and for these employees each dollar earned is significant to them and their family’s economic survival,” said Wage and Hour Deputy Regional Administrator – Midwest Region Timolin Mitchell. “Every worker deserves to be paid for hours they work and the overtime they have earned. Employers must know the wage laws that apply to their employees and pay them accordingly.”

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. Great Lakes Care Inc., Juan Salazar

Case number 1:22-cv-12903-MAG-PTM

Employer name:       LOOPX LLC 

Investigation site:   146 Industry Road Independence, LA 70443

 Investigation findings: The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division found LOOPX LLC, a residential contractor specializing in pool construction denied 25 workers overtime wages by paying them straight-time rates for all hours worked, including hours over 40 in a workweek. The division also learned the employer misclassified three of those employees as independent contractors, denying them of overtime eligibility and other federal benefits and protections. 

Back wages recovered: $56,862 in back wages to 25 workers 

Quote: “Construction workers often work long hours in tough conditions, and they deserve to be paid all of the wages they have earned. This includes overtime premiums for hours over 40 per workweek,” explained Wage Hour District Director Troy Mouton in New Orleans. “We encourage all employers to review their pay practices and to reach out to the Wage and Hour Division if they have questions about their obligations.”

Employer:      JRKT Enterprises LLC, operating as Subway

                        12835 Bel-Red Road, Suite 100

Bellevue, WA 98005                                                                                                     

Investigation findings: An investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division found the employer failed to pay workers the full amount of their earnings due to violations of the minimum wage, overtime and tip pool requirements under the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Investigators determined that JRKT Enterprises LLC and owner Taran Singh, operator of four Subway restaurants under different corporate names in Burien, Renton, SeaTac and Tukwila failed to pay two employees for time spent in required job training and failed to combine hours between four establishments for overtime pay calculation purposes. By doing so, the employer failed to pay workers overtime hours for hours over 40 in a workweek. The employer also allowed managers to take part in a tip pool, a practice the law forbids.

Back Wages Recovered:       $37,476 in unpaid wages and tips for 59 employees

$37,476 in liquidated damages for 59 employees

                                                $5,924 in civil money penalties

Quote: “Food service workers are common victims of labor violations by unscrupulous employers that disrespect the law and their workers, while jeopardizing their reputations, franchise agreements and, in this case, the Subway brand,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Thomas Silva in Seattle. “We encourage employers in this industry to review their pay practices and avoid costly consequences.”

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 over 40 in a workweek. Learn more about the Wage and Hour Division and workers’ rights, including a search tool to use if you think you may be owed back wages collected by the division.

Employers and workers can call division staff confidentially with questions, regardless of where they are from, and the department can speak with callers confidentially 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 devices, available in English and Spanish, to help track work hours and pay.