MANCHESTER, NH – A U.S. Department of Labor investigation into the pay practices and use of child labor at a southern Maine bar and grill has found the employers failed to properly pay 36 workers their wages, falsified timecards to avoid paying overtime, and allowed minors to work long hours in excess of the legal limits. The investigation found that one of these underaged employees cleaned a hazardous meat slicer.

The department has also resolved retaliation-related litigation with Antonia’s Inc. in Freeport based on allegations that they attempted to dissuade employees from providing the department with truthful information requested by investigators with the department’s Wage and Hour Division.

The division determined that Antonia’s Inc., doing business as Antonia’s Pizzeria, did not pay certain workers for all their hours worked or pay proper overtime for hours over 40 in a workweek. They also learned the employers edited and deleted timecard entries, allegedly to conceal overtime hours worked by employees.

Investigators also learned the business operators permitted five 15-year-old employees to work more hours than federal law allows. In addition, they allowed a 16-year-old to clean a power-driven meat slicer, a hazardous occupation under federal regulations.

Following its investigation, the division recovered $184,940, representing $92,470 in unpaid wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages, for the affected workers. The department assessed Antonia’s with $29,052 in civil money penalties for its willful violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act’s minimum wage and overtime provisions, and with $6,088 in penalties for the child labor violations.

“Our investigation found that Antonia’s denied dozens of workers their full wages, falsified timecards, and violated federal laws that protect young workers’ well-being and safety,” explained Wage and Hour Division District Director Steven McKinney in Manchester, New Hampshire. “This investigation’s outcome shows that employers may face costly consequences when they fail to comply with worker protection laws.” 

In a related action, the department’s Regional Solicitor’s Office in Boston litigated allegations revealed during the investigation. Specifically, investigators heard claims that the employers pressured workers not to speak with investigators, coached workers on their statements and offered money to workers to make statements that would make investigators believe Antonia’s had complied with the law.

As a result, the department obtained a consent preliminary injunction in federal court to halt the retaliation and ultimately resolved the retaliation complaint in a consent judgment. The judgment required Antonia’s to pay employees $16,000 in punitive damages and forbids the employers from doing the following:

• Telling any employee or former employee to provide false information to the department or otherwise influencing any employee with respect to their participation in any FLSA investigation or litigation the department brings.
• Demanding, accepting or keeping any amount paid or payable to any current or former employee, or attempting to recover any amounts paid to any current or former employee in connection with the consent judgment or any other legal proceeding brought by the department to enforce the FLSA.
• Taking any other adverse action against any employee or former employee or telling any employee or former employee that they will suffer any adverse action because the employee or former employee has engaged in or is about to engage in activity protected by the FLSA.

The consent judgment also requires Antonia’s Inc. to provide training to all managers on the FLSA’s provisions concerning tips, minimum wages, overtime compensation, recordkeeping, child labor, and retaliation.

“The department will take swift legal action to halt retaliation against workers and will not tolerate wage theft,” said Regional Solicitor of Labor Maia Fisher in Boston. “This case serves as a message to employers in New England that they should not take any action that would dissuade employees from engaging in FLSA protected activity, including instructing employees not to cooperate with or provide false information to the department.”

View the consent judgment.

“We urge employers to review the Wage and Hour Division’s extensive online compliance assistance toolkits and to contact the Northern New England District Office at 603-666-7716 with any questions about the Fair Labor Standards Act’s wage and child labor protections. Workers can call our office confidentially with questions regardless of where they are from,” McKinney added.

The Fair Labor Standards Act allows for developmental experiences but restricts the employment of youth in certain jobs and provides for penalties when employers do not follow the law. The YouthRules! initiative promotes valuable work experiences for youth by providing information about protections for young workers. The Wage and Hour Division has also published Seven Child Labor Best Practices for Employers to help employers comply with the law.

For more information about workers’ rights enforced by the division, contact the toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). The department can speak with callers in more than 200 languages.  

Learn more about the Wage and Hour Division, including its search tool to learn if you are owed back wages collected by the division. Help ensure hours worked and pay are accurate by downloading the department’s Android and iOS Timesheet App in English or Spanish for free.

RALEIGH, NC – Two federal investigations have recovered $540,221 in wages for 268 H-2A workers from a father and son, then operating as North Carolina farm labor contractors, and whose violations of federal laws included failing to pay some workers their full wages, to provide safe and adequate housing and to reimburse workers’ transportation costs.

The federal Fair Labor Standards Act and the H-2A program, which enables agricultural employers to employ temporary non-immigrant workers, protect all people working in the U.S., including American citizens and others, regardless of immigration status.

Investigators with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division determined Becerra Enterprises Inc., owner Luis A. Becerra and his son, Luis A. Becerra Jr., who are based out of Arcadia, Florida, recruited, hired, housed and transported H-2A workers to harvest sweet potatoes, cucumbers and tobacco at Blake Edwards Roberson Farms and Taylor Grimes Farms in Robersonville and Anderson Farms in Tarboro, North Carolina.

Specifically, investigators found the employers violated H-2A regulations by failing to do the following:

• Provide employees with copies of their work contracts.
• Satisfy job orders’ requirements by including the actual terms and conditions of employment.
• Provide employees with meals or access to kitchen facilities.
• Pay the required adverse effect wage rate to two H-2A workers performing as cooks in non-agricultural duties not listed in the contract.
• Provide pay stubs to H-2A employees working as cooks; instead, the employer paid them in cash, in violation of earning records requirements.
• Disclose daily meal deductions in the H-2A contract.

The division found Becerra Jr. failed to reimburse H-2A workers for their inbound transportation expenses by the contract’s halfway point. His father failed to meet housing safety and health requirements by failing to furnish workers’ housing with first aid kits, smoke alarms and flushing toilets, exposing the workers to potential harm. 

In addition to wages recovered, the division assessed $12,526 in civil money penalties to Luis A. Becerra Jr. and $21,257 in civil money penalties to Becerra Enterprises for their violations. All penalties have been fully paid. Becerra Enterprises was also debarred from participating in the H-2A program for three years.

“Farm laborers are among our nation’s most essential workers and are often vulnerable to illegal and unsafe labor practices,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Richard Blaylock in Raleigh, North Carolina. “U.S. law guarantees workers’ rights regardless of the place they call home. The Wage and Hour Division will hold employers who jeopardize agricultural workers’ safety and health and deny them their full wages accountable.”

During fiscal years 2022 to 2023, the division identified violations in over 92 percent of the 14 investigations completed in the North Carolina sweet potato agriculture industry. These investigations recovered more than $545,000 in back wages for nearly 300 workers and assessed employers over $70,000 in penalties for violations.

“The H-2A temporary agricultural program provides farmers with the additional workers they may need to put food on America’s tables,” Blaylock added. “However, this must not come at the expense of the safety and well-being of those workers. We urge growers to take proactive steps to ensure the labor contractors they hire comply fully with all regulations.”

The Wage and Hour Division offers multiple compliance assistance resources, including an agriculture compliance assistance toolkit, to provide employers the information they need to comply with the law. Employers and workers can call the division confidentially with questions using the agency’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). The division can communicate with callers in more than 200 languages, regardless of where they are from.

The Wage and Hour Division makes every effort to locate and notify all employees due back wages. If they are unable to find an employee, those wages are held in a continued effort to locate them. If anyone believes they may be owed back wages collected by the division, they can search the division’s online database – available in English and Spanish – of workers who have been previously unlocated and may have money waiting to be claimed. Download the agency’s new Timesheet App for iOS and Android devices – free and available in English and Spanish – to ensure hours and pay are accurate.

Read this news release En Español.

Employer:                              Patel Shippers LLC

                                                19925 SW 270th St.

                                                Homestead, FL 33031

Investigation findings: U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division investigators found Patel Shippers LLC, which provides fruits and vegetables from India and Asia to grocery stores in 10 states, including Florida, denied 25 workers overtime wages by paying them straight-time rates for all hours worked, including for hours over 40 in a workweek. The employer also failed to pay three workers at least the federal minimum wage by not keeping an accurate record of hours worked. Their actions violated the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Back wages and liquidated damages recovered: $71,047 in back wages and liquidated damages for 25 workers.                                    

Quote: “Employers have a legal obligation to pay workers for all the hours that they work. When they fail to do so they may owe back wages and liquidated damages,” said Wage and Hour Division Acting District Director Anthony Delgado in Miami. “We remain committed to ensuring essential protections for workers, and to providing clear and confidential compliance assistance to any worker or employer with questions.”

Background: Patel Shippers LLC delivers fruit and vegetables to grocery stores in Miami, Sunrise and West Palm Beach. The company also supplies grocers in Arizona, California, Georgia, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, South Carolina and Texas.

Agency investigators learned of the employer’s practices through the Employment Education and Outreach alliance. The alliance is a collaboration of community and nongovernmental organizations, including state, local, and federal agencies and Hispanic consulates that provides information and assistance to Spanish-speaking employees and employers regarding workplace rights and responsibilities. Workers and employers can reach EMPLEO by calling (877) 522-9832 or (877) 55-AYUDA.

Employers and workers alike can contact the Wage and Hour Division at its toll-free number, 1-866-4-US-WAGE with any questions they have concerning wages and the FLSA. 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 can also track hours worked and pay by downloading the department’s Android and IOS Timesheet App for free in English or Spanish.

Read this news release En Español.

Who:       U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division

                 Workplace Justice Project

What:      Memorandum of Understanding

When:     August 23, 2023

                 11 a.m. CDT

Where:   F. Edward Hebert Federal Building

                600 South Maestri Place

4th Floor Training Room

                New Orleans, LA 70130

Background: The Wage and Hour Division’s New Orleans District Office and the Workplace Justice Project, a  non-profit worker advocacy organization, signed a memorandum of understanding to improve both organizations’ effectiveness in providing critical services to low-wage workers. The memorandum establishes a partnership that will cross-train staff on how to identify labor violations and increase information sharing between the agencies to help prevent and respond to potential federal violations better. The initiative will also improve both agencies’ ability to educate workers on their labor rights and protections.

Quote: “In partnership with the Workplace Justice Project, the Wage and Hour Division can help expand our ability to protect the rights of low-wage workers,” explained Wage and Hour Division District Director Troy Mouton, in New Orleans. “Our agencies’ goals complement each other and create a unique opportunity to provide critical services to workers who need them most.”

Employer:                              CAH Inc., operating as Community Alternative Housing

Investigation site:                  2905 Breezewood Ave.

                                                Suite 104 

                                                Fayetteville, NC 28303

Investigation findings: Investigators with the department’s Wage and Hour Division found the North Carolina home health care service paid employees straight-time rates for all hours worked. By doing so, the employer failed to pay the employees a time-and-a-half premium for hours over 40 in a workweek, an overtime violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Back Wages Recovered: $174,751 for 50 workers                                      

Quote: “All workers deserve the wages they legally earned, including those who provide essential care to people in our communities,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Richard Blaylock in Raleigh, North Carolina. “Employers with questions about their obligations should contact us for free guidance that could help them avoid paying a significant amount of back wages and – as in the case of this employer – work cooperatively to correct violations found as soon as they are discovered.”

Background: CAH Inc. is non-profit that provides day programs, residential services, community services and independent living services to children, adolescents and adults.

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. 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.

CHICAGO – The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a consent order from a federal judge that orders the owner and administrator of an Illinois home care and home healthcare provider to pay $324,049 in back wages and liquidated damages as part of the department’s effort to recover overtime denied to 159 healthcare workers.

Following a two-year review of pay practices of Destiny Healthcare Services Inc. by the department’s Wage and Hour Division, the action was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division, on July 31, 2023. Shortly thereafter, the department’s Office of the Solicitor in Chicago was able to obtain a consent order resolving all issues, including payment of $324,049 in back wages and liquidated damages, and an injunction for future compliance.

From October 2020 through October 2022, investigators determined owner Mirza Baig and administrator Sonia Chalal did not keep accurate records of hours worked and paid the affected workers straight-time wages for all hours worked. By doing so, the Westchester-based employers failed to pay overtime as required by the Fair Labor Standards Act.

“Home caregivers deliver vital services and allow people to continue to live at home as they age or cope with medical ailments, yet these essential workers are among our nation’s lowest paid people,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Tom Gauza in Chicago. “Just as their clients depend on them, these workers rely on being paid every dollar they earn to support themselves and their families. We are committed to protecting these workers’ rights and to holding employers accountable when they fail to meet their legal obligations.”

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that as of May 2022, the average nursing assistant in the home healthcare services industry earned $32,160 per year, about $15.46 an hour and that the healthcare and social assistance industry had more than 1.9 million open jobs nationwide.

“Employers must follow all applicable wage laws for their industry. The Wage and Hour Division encourages both employers and workers with questions on federal wage laws to contact us for clarification,” Gauza added.

Based in Westchester, Destiny Healthcare Services Inc. provides home care and home healthcare services, and also has offices in Aurora, Chicago, Evergreen Park and Joliet.

The Wage and Hour Division offers resources on wages rules for healthcare workers.

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. The department can speak with callers in more than 200 languages.

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

Su v. Destiny Healthcare Services, Inc,. Mirza Baig, Sonia Chalal

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division

Case: 1:23-cv-04982

Employer: S & W Renovation & Landscape Contractor Inc. operating as S&W Foundation Contractors

Investigation site:
2806 Singleton St.
Rowlett, TX 75088                                

Investigation findings: Investigators with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division found the employer deducted lunch breaks automatically without first making sure workers did, in fact, take a lunch break. The automatic deduction caused overtime and recordkeeping violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Back Wages and Damages Recovered:
$51,872 in back wages
$51,872 in liquidated damages

Quote: “Employers have a responsibility to make certain employees actually take lunch breaks when automatic deductions are made,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Jesus A. Valdez in Dallas. “The law requires them to pay employees their full earned wages, including pay for time when lunch breaks are not used. The Wage and Hour Division has professionals ready to help employers understand regulations and 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.

Raleigh, nc – A federal investigation has found that a Virginia-based information technology support company under contract with the U.S. Marine Corps incorrectly classified 10 workers as exempt from overtime, leading to the recovery of $77,627 in back wages and benefits owed to them.

The affected workers were hired for computer systems and tech support of personnel at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, Camp Lejeune and other U.S. military installations.

Investigators with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division determined Leidos Inc. applied the administrative exemption under the overtime provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act incorrectly. By doing so, the employer failed to pay workers their correct health and welfare and holiday benefits as required by the McNamara-O’Hara Service Contract Act. This resulted in the recovery of $55,593 for the affected workers.

The division also found that, while wrongly exempted from overtime, Leidos paid the 10 workers straight-time rates for all hours worked, which denied them an overtime rate for hours over 40 in a workweek in violation of the FLSA. Investigators determined the employees were due $22,034 in unpaid overtime wages.

“Federal contractors must understand and meet all the requirements associated with performing work on government contracts,” explained Wage and Hour Division District Director Richard Blaylock in Raleigh, North Carolina. “Our investigation shows the Department of Labor’s commitment to making sure employees are paid their rightfully earned wages.”

By law, contractors and subcontractors performing services on prime contracts valued at more than $2,500 must pay service employees in various classes no less than the wage rates and fringe benefits found prevailing in the locality, or the rates, including prospective increases, contained in a predecessor contractor’s collective bargaining agreement.

“We encourage other federal contractors to use this investigation’s outcome as an opportunity to review their pay practices and make certain they are complying with the law and avoiding the potentially costly consequences for violations like those found in this case,” Blaylock said.

Founded in 1969, Leidos Holdings Inc. is a Fortune 500 information technology, engineering and science solutions company, serving clients in the aviation, defense, energy, health, intelligence, government and science industries. Headquartered in Reston, Leidos has 39,000 employees working in 42 states and abroad.

For more information about federal contractor wage laws and other laws enforced by the Wage and Hour Division, contact the division’s toll-free helpline confidentially at 866-4-US-WAGE (487-9243). 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 Timesheet App for Android and Apple devices, now available in English and Spanish, to ensure hours and pay are accurate.

GREENVILLE, MS – The paychecks of 91 nurses and others employed by a Greenville staffing agency now include all the wages they rightfully earned, after an investigation by the U.S. Department Labor stopped the agency from denying them overtime pay.

The department’s Wage and Hour Division investigation found that Prime Care Nursing Inc. paid employees straight-time rates instead of required overtime rates for hours over 40 in a workweek, a violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

The investigation recovered $314,211 in back wages and liquidated damages for the affected workers, including some who worked as many as 84 hours per week.

“Our investigations often find unscrupulous employers depriving workers — who provide vital services to people in need — of their hard-earned wages,” explained Wage and Hour Division District Director Audrey Hall in Jackson, Mississippi. “When employers violate workers’ rights, they make it harder for them to provide for themselves and their families. The Department of Labor will hold employers accountable when they mistakenly think they can violate these rights.”

Located in Jackson and Greenville, Prime Care Nursing provides nursing care staffing throughout Mississippi serving hospitals, nursing homes, patients in their homes, hospice agencies and rehabilitation centers. Prime Care Nursing workers include registered nurses, licensed practical nurses and caregivers.

As the aging U.S. population grows and demand for health care increases, employment in a variety of healthcare occupations is projected to grow 13 percent from 2021 to 2031 – faster than the average for all occupations – adding about two million jobs.

The Wage and Hour Division provides multiple tools to help employers understand their responsibilities and offers confidential compliance assistance to anyone with questions about how to comply with the law. Workers 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.

For information about the FLSA and other laws enforced by the division, contact the agency’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243) or visit the Wage and Hour Division website to find fact sheets on nurses and exemptions under the FLSA and nursing care facilities under the FLSA. Use the division’s search tool if you think you may be owed back wages collected by the division. Download the agency’s new Timesheet App, now available in English and Spanish for Android and iOS devices, to ensure hours and pay are accurate.

CONCORD, NH – A U.S. Department of Labor investigation has recovered $215,675 in back wages and liquidated damages for 47 employees employed by Miguel Reynosa and Crescencio Reynosa, the operators of two restaurants in Dover and Epping, who denied workers their full wages and permitted four minors to work longer and later than legally permitted.

The department’s Wage and Hour Division found Cinco De Mayo Bar & Grill LLC, doing business as Cinco De Mayo Bar & Grill in Dover, and Tellez Brothers LLC, doing business as Cinco’s Cantina in Epping, violated the Fair Labor Standards Act’s overtime, child labor, and recordkeeping provisions as follows:

• Failing to pay certain employees, such as cooks, dishwashers, and bussers, at time and one-half their regular rates of pay for all hours worked over 40 in a workweek.
• Not calculating tipped employees’ overtime properly by basing overtime on their cash wage rates instead of their regular rates of pay.
• Employing four 14- and 15-year-olds to work as late as 10 p.m. and more than 3 hours on school days.
• Failing to maintain complete and accurate records of hours worked and payments made to employees.

“Cinco De Mayo Bar & Grill and Cinco’s Cantina deprived dozens of employees of their rightful pay, making it much harder for these workers to support themselves and their families,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Steven McKinney in Manchester, New Hampshire. “The more than $215,000 in wages and liquidated damages recovered for these workers by the department will go a long way towards making them whole.” 

The department also assessed, and the employer paid, a total of $29,795 in civil money penalties. The willful nature of the overtime violations resulted in $26,631 in penalties, while the child labor violations resulted in $3,164 in penalties.

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.

“We are committed to helping employers understand their responsibilities under federal labor law and urge them to proactively contact our office for compliance assistance,” McKinney added. “The Fair Labor Standards Act allows for developmental experiences but restricts the hours that young employees can work on school days and in the evening to protect their educational opportunities.”

The FLSA prohibits children under the age of 14 from working in most situations and 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 three hours on a school day, eight hours on a non-school day or more than 18 hours per week when school is in session. The law also prohibits children under the age of 18 from operating dangerous equipment, such as power-driven meat slicers and certain types of bakery machines.

The YouthRules! initiative promotes positive and safe work experiences for youth by providing information about protections for young workers. 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 ensure hours and pay are accurate.