BOSTON – The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered $771,022 in back wages and $61,215 in liquidated damages for 47 workers of a Haverhill landscaping company after the employer failed to comply with requirements of the federal H-2B worker program and the Fair Labor Standards Act. The H-2B Worker Program permits businesses to employ temporary visa workers for limited periods of time.

Investigators with the department’s Wage and Hour Division determined Triad Associates Inc. did not pay certain H-2B workers the proper overtime rate for all hours over 40 hours in a workweek, a Fair Labor Standards Act violation. They also found Triad Associates failed to keep accurate records for the hours that salaried non-exempt employees worked. The division recovered $61,215 in back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages owed to six workers to resolve the FLSA violations. The investigation also identified violations of related H-2B provisions in the Immigration and Nationality Act. Specifically, the division found Triad Associates illegally:

• Failed to comply with the prohibition against preferential treatment, which resulted in the division recovering $138,763 in back wages for 13 workers.
• Paid less than the offered wage rate to masons and pavers. The division recovered $503,704 in back wages owed to 47 workers.
• Placed workers in an unapproved job classification and made impermissible deductions from workers’ wages.
• Failed to pay H-2B workers’ inbound travel, outbound travel, and subsistence costs.
• Failed to fulfill required recruitment activities, including contacting former U.S. employees when attempting to fill vacancies.
• Did not retain required documents.

In addition to recovering back wages, the division assessed Triad Associates with civil money penalties of $5,694 under the FLSA and $117,949 under the H-2B program, which the company has paid.

“H-2B program workers are often vulnerable to wage shortages and other violations of their rights,” explained Wage and Hour District Director Carlos Matos in Boston. “Employers who employ H-2B program workers must comply with the law, or face potentially being barred from the program for not following certain of the rules.”

To ensure future compliance with H-2B regulations, Triad entered into a settlement agreement with enhanced compliance provisions, which requires them to hire a compliance monitor who must be approved by the Wage and Hour Division. The monitor will provide reports to the division, including an assessment of whether Triad is complying with applicable law.

The federal H-2B worker program permits employers to temporarily hire nonimmigrants to perform nonagricultural labor or services in the U.S. The employment must be temporary in nature and be for a limited specific period, such as a one-time occurrence, seasonal, peak load, or intermittent need.

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 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 Timesheet App for i-OS and Android devices – also available in Spanish – to ensure hours and pay are accurate.

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Employer:                                  Drevo Inc.

                                                    55 Brooklyn Lane

                                                    Palm Coast, FL 32137

Investigation Findings: Investigators with the department’s Wage and Hour Division found that a Florida commercial carpentry and millwork contractor paid 19 employees straight-time rates for all hours worked, including overtime hours. By doing so, the employer failed to pay the required time-and-a-half overtime premium for hours over 40 hours in a workweek, a Fair Labor Standards Act violation.

Back Wages and Liquidated Damages:         $24,388 in back overtime wages

                                                                           $24,388 in liquidated damages                             

Quote: “Workers deserve to be paid all the wages they earn. Employers who fail to pay workers what the law requires may owe back wages, plus liquidated damages and even civil money penalties. Taken as a whole, these can quickly add up to a costly lesson,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Wildalí De Jesús in Orlando, Florida. “We encourage other employers to use this investigation’s outcome as an opportunity to review their pay practices to avoid similar violations.”

Background: 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 the division confidentially with questions and review our compliance assistance toolkit for the construction industry. The department will assist workers, regardless of their immigration status, and staff can speak with callers confidentially in more than 200 languages through the agency’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Keep track of hours and pay with the agency’s new Timesheet App for Apple and android devices, available in English and Spanish.

SCHAUMBURG, IL – An administrative law judge has ordered a Schaumburg residential and commercial swimming pool company to pay $312,561 in back wages to 26 workers, employed under a federal guest worker visa program, after the U.S. Department of Labor found the employer failed to comply with the H-2B guest worker visa program.

On June 20, 2023, Judge Theodore Annos in Washington D.C. upheld the findings of an investigation by the department’s Wage and Hour Division that Lucero Pool Plaster Inc. violated the H-2B guest worker visa program by failing to pay its H-2B workers for all hours they worked plastering pools in Illinois, Indiana. Iowa and Wisconsin in 2016 and 2017. The employer’s failure to comply with the H-2B guest worker visa program regulations violated the Immigration and Nationality Act.

The judge also affirmed the division’s assessment of $123,814 in penalties for its violations and forbid the company from participating in the H-2B program for a year.

“The court has upheld the Wage and Hour Division’s finding that Lucero Pool Paster Inc. owes these 26 plasterers back wages for failing to pay them their legally required wages,” said Wage and Hour Regional Administrator Michael Lazzeri in Chicago. “Companies participating in non-immigrant visa programs agree to specific terms and conditions, but this employer shamelessly paid these H-2B workers less than the full hourly wages promised when they accepted the work.”

Specifically, division investigators discovered Lucero Pool Plaster violated the H-2B program as follows:

• Failing to pay the offered wage.
• Placing workers outside the stated area of employment.
• Failing to pay workers’ inbound/outbound transportation and subsistence costs.
• Not providing the job order information in Spanish, the language commonly understood by employees.
• Prohibiting third-party travel agencies from charging fees to workers.
• Not complying with document retention requirements.

The H-2B non-immigrant program permits employers to temporarily hire non-immigrants to perform non-agricultural labor or services in the United States. The employment must be of a temporary nature for a limited period of time such as a one-time occurrence, seasonal need, peak load need or intermittent need.

The department’s Office of the Solicitor in Chicago litigated the case.

For more information about the H-2B Program 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. Download the agency’s new Timesheet App for Android devices to ensure hours and pay are accurate.

HERMITAGE, TN – A federal court in Nashville has affirmed the findings of an investigation that determined a Tennessee security and traffic control services provider and its owner misclassified 105 workers as independent contractors, including some who worked as security guards in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria.

On May 26, 2023, the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee issued a supplemental order awarding an additional $116,273 to affected employees. In total, the court ordered EM Protective Services LLC and its owner, Erik Massikas to pay a total of $632,463 in back wages and liquidated damages.

The U.S. Department of Labor filed suit after an investigation by its Wage and Hour Division determined individuals doing security and traffic control work for EM Protective were, in fact, employees and not independent contractors. As such, the employer was required to pay these workers minimum wage and overtime, as the Fair Labor Standards Act requires.

“A federal court in Nashville found that EM Protective Services misclassified 105 workers as independent contractors, leaving these hard-working people without the rights and benefits afforded to them as employees,” said U.S. Department of Labor Regional Solicitor Tremelle Howard in Atlanta. “Misclassification strips workers of their rights to overtime and other federal protections and benefits.”

After hearing from several employees, a trial  took place in Nashville in July of 2022, the court directed EM Protective to pay $516,190 in back wages and liquidated damages to employees who worked in Puerto Rico. Subsequently, the court directed EM Protective to pay an additional $116,273 in back wages and liquidated damages to a group of guards and traffic control officers employed in the Nashville area.

“The Department of Labor will pursue every available resource, including litigation, to make sure employers fulfill their legal obligations to their employees,” Howard explained.

Based in Hermitage, EM Protective Services provides work zone traffic control, business security, personal protection and private investigation services.  

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). 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. 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 i-OS devices, which is available in English and Spanish, to ensure hours and pay are accurate.

OKLAHOMA CITY – While dozens of Oklahoma healthcare workers tested scores of people for coronavirus in tents, hotel rooms and other public spaces at the pandemic’s height, their employer misclassified them as independent contractors and denied them the overtime wages, benefits and protections they more than earned.

Investigators with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division have recovered $142,360 in back overtime wages for 65 workers employed by Inspire Diagnostics LLC, an on-site COVID testing provider based in Lake Forest, California.

The division determined the employer should have paid the affected employees time and one-half their regular rate of pay for hours over 40 in a workweek. By failing to do so, they violated overtime provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

“Misclassifying employees as independent contractors denies workers their full wages and other employment benefits and protections. It also gives employers an unfair competitive advantage, and harms the economy,” explained Wage and Hour Division District Director Michael Speer in Oklahoma City. “While misclassification is a common practice in the healthcare industry, employers must understand and comply with the law to make sure workers are paid properly.”

Inspire Diagnostics LLC is a subsidiary of Inspire Health Alliance, a U.S.-based healthcare services company that works with healthcare providers to improve patient outcomes, lower costs and reduce risk using care models and technology solutions.

The Wage and Hour Division enforces laws governing pay practices and other labor standards and determines if employers have misclassified employees as independent contractors and denied them critical benefits and worker protections.

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 protects workers regardless of immigration status and can communicate with workers in more than 200 languages.

Download the agency’s new Timesheet App, which is available in English and Spanish for Android and Apple devices, to ensure hours and pay are accurate.

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HACKENSACK, NJ – Three northern New Jersey supermarkets have paid more than $1.8 million in back wages and damages after federal investigators found the employers deliberately failed to pay required overtime rates to 226 employees who worked overtime at stores in Hackensack, Oakland and Waldwick.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division found the pay practices of D & J Enterprise LLC, J & Y Giant LLC and Waldwick Farmers Market LLC, operating as Giant Farmers Market and operated by John Lee and Diana Lee, violated provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act. Specifically, investigators determined the employers did the following:

• Paid some employees a day rate or salary, without any overtime pay for hours over 40.
• Paid other employees in checks for their first 40 hours, and cash for hours over 40, without any required overtime pay.
• Failed to include non-discretionary bonuses into the regular rate of pay, which is necessary when calculating overtime rates.
• Deducted breaks of only 20 minutes from employees’ hours worked.

The division’s investigation led to the recovery of $917,455 in back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages and prompted the department to assess $80,428 in civil money penalties for the willful nature of the violations.

“Supermarket and grocery workers are among some of our nation’s lowest-paid, and they depend on every dollar earned to make ends meet,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Paula Ruffin in Mountainside, New Jersey. “Giant Farmers Market’s attempt to evade federal regulations that protect workers’ rights to be paid all of their earned wages created an unfair advantage over their law-abiding competitors.”

Learn more about federal regulations governing the retail industry.

D & J Enterprise LLC is based in Hackensack, J & Y Giant LLC in Oakland and Waldwick, and Farmers Market LLC is based in Waldwick.

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 required rate of pay for all hours worked over 40 in a workweek.

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 – also available in Spanish – to ensure hours and pay are accurate.                    

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

                        U.S. Department of Labor’s Women’s Bureau

                        U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

                        Texas Department of State Health Services

What:             “Working Mothers: What to Expect from Your Employer When You’re Expecting” webinar

When:            June 22, 2023, 12 p.m. CDT

Where:           Register online for the webinar

Background: The U.S. Department of Labor and the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is presenting an online webinar to review the rights of new and expecting mothers to workplace protections. Presenters from the department’s Wage and Hour Division and its Women’s Bureau, the EEOC and the Texas Department of State Health Services will provide information to workers, worker advocates and other stakeholders on federal and state laws that protect pregnant women and new mothers from workplace discrimination, allow for time off for a child’s birth or adoption and make certain nursing mothers have breaks to express breast milk while at work.

There is no cost to attend but registration is recommended.

The department offers fact sheets on Birth and Bonding and Job-Protected Leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act.

Learn more about the Wage and Hour Division or learn more about the Women’s Bureau.

NASHVILLE, TN – The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered $270,751 in back wages after investigators learned a Nashville restaurant required servers to share tips with dishwashers and failed to pay some workers overtime wages when required. In all, 82 employees will benefit from the wage recovery.

Investigators with the department’s Wage and Hour Division determined Cilantro Five Points Inc. — operator of Cilantro Five Points Mexican Grill and Tequila Bar and Cilantro Restaurant Inc. — violated the Fair Labor Standards Act’s minimum wage and overtime requirements when they did the following:

• Required servers to share tips with dishwashers, specifically $5 per night on Fridays and Saturdays.
• Failed to pay overtime to non-exempt employees for hours over 40 in a workweek, paying cash wages for some work hours and an additional day-rate amount for other work hours.
• Neglected to pay non-exempt employees at least the proper minimum wage for all hours in a workweek.
• Failed to keep accurate records of some employees’ hours worked, as required.

“Restaurant industry employees work hard for their wages, especially for the tips they earn for good customer service. They depend to these tips to help make ends meet,” explained Wage and Hour Division District Director Lisa Kelly in Nashville, Tennessee. “By federal law, tips belong to the people who earned them, and employers are prohibited from withholding or redirecting these earnings.”

“In this case, Cilantro Five Points Inc. also failed to pay proper minimum wage and overtime to workers,” Kelly added. “The Wage and Hour Division makes numerous resources available for employers, either online or by calling our local offices, to make sure their pay practices comply with the law.”

These findings follow investigations at two other Tennessee restaurants, Grecian Steakhouse and Coco’s Italian Market and Restaurants, where the division also identified FLSA violations. In fiscal year 2022 Division investigators recovered more than $27 million for more than 22,500 workers in the food service industry nationwide.

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 – regardless of their immigration status – 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, also available in Spanish.

ALBANY, NY - El Departamento de Trabajo de EE.UU. ha recuperado $37,103 en salarios atrasados para 86 trabajadores empleados por tres empleadores de la industria agrícola -una granja del condado de Wayne, un contratista de trabajo agrícola de Michigan y un operador de almacén del condado de Genesee- cuyas prácticas de empleo les rebajaron los salarios y les negaron el dinero que se les debía en virtud de la normativa federal que protege a los trabajadores agrícolas temporales.

La recuperación salarial comenzó con una investigación de la División de Horas y Salarios del departamento en Lake Breeze Fruit Farms Inc. en Sodus, donde la división determinó que el empleador no pagaba a ciertos empleados asalariados -no exentos en virtud de la Ley de Normas Justas de Trabajo de Trabajo (FLSA por sus siglas en ingles)- la tasa adecuada de horas extras por horas superiores a 40 en semanas laborales cuando manipulaban mercancías de otras granjas. Los investigadores también descubrieron que el empleador no llevaba registros precisos de las horas de trabajo de los empleados asalariados no exentos, como se exige. Para resolver sus violaciones de la FLSA, Lake Breeze Fruit Farms pagó $6,177 en salarios atrasados a 54 trabajadores.

La división también se enteró de que los trabajadores de la granja acogidos al programa federal de agricultura temporal H-2A trabajaban siete días a la semana, pero el empleador no les pagaba las horas extras por trabajar en su día de descanso, lo que suponía una violación de la promesa de Lake Breeze de cumplir la legislación del estado de Nueva York como parte de sus obligaciones en virtud del programa H-2A. Los investigadores también determinaron que, aunque Lake Breeze llevaba un registro del total de horas semanales trabajadas, no registraba las horas diarias trabajadas, un requisito del programa H-2A. El empleador pagó otros $4,339 en salarios atrasados a 54 empleados por estas infracciones.

Durante su investigación, los investigadores de la división se encontraron con trabajadores de D Perez Harvesting LLC, un contratista laboral de Three Rivers, Michigan, que suministraba los trabajadores H-2A de la granja. Se enteraron de que el contratista pagaba a los trabajadores a destajo por el número de fanegas de manzanas recogidas, lo que hacía que los trabajadores cobraran menos que la tasa salarial de federal de efecto adverso.    

La división también descubrió que D Perez Harvesting no pagó a los trabajadores H-2A los gastos necesarios para viajar desde su ubicación en Michigan hasta el lugar de trabajo en Nueva York. El contratista tampoco reembolsó íntegramente a los trabajadores los gastos de transporte de regreso a su lugar de residencia al finalizar el contrato de trabajo y no pagó los gastos necesarios de los trabajadores para sus viajes de regreso a casa. Para resolver estas infracciones H-2A, D Perez Harvesting pagó $25,201 adeudados a 78 empleados.

En otro hallazgo, los investigadores encontraron personas empleadas por Farm Fresh First LLC de Oakfield trabajando en la oficina y el cobertizo de clasificación en Lake Breeze. La división determinó que el empleador, una empresa de almacenamiento y depósito de productos agrícolas, no pagó las horas extras a un empleado asalariado no exento ni mantuvo registros de sus horas de trabajo. Farm Fresh First pagó $1,385 en salarios atrasados a un trabajador para resolver las infracciones de la FLSA.

Además de las recuperaciones de salarios atrasados, la división impuso una multa civil de $1,636 a Lake Breeze Fruit Farms Inc. y de $ 4,703 a D Pérez Harvesting LLC por sus violaciónes de H-2A, que ambos empleadores han pagado.

"Los empresarios que se benefician del programa agrícola temporal H-2A deben conocer y seguir las prácticas salariales legales establecidas. Los trabajadores de este programa proporcionan mano de obra fundamental para las necesidades de la industria agrícola de Nueva York. Sus empleadores deben pagar a los trabajadores H-2A como exigen sus contratos y proporcionarles lo necesario para vivir y trabajar con seguridad", explicó el director de distrito de la División de Horas y Salarios, Jay Rosenblum, en Albany (Nueva York).

"Infracciones como las detectadas en estas investigaciones pueden evitarse con conocimiento y la diligencia debida", añadió Rosenblum. "Los empleadores que no estén seguros de sus responsabilidades en virtud del programa H-2A y otras leyes aplicadas por la División de Horas y Salarios no duden en ponerse en contacto con nosotros".

El programa agrícola temporal H-2A permite a los empleadores agrícolas que prevean una escasez de trabajadores nacionales traer a EE.UU. trabajadores extranjeros no inmigrantes para realizar labores o servicios agrícolas de carácter temporal o estacional. Más información sobre los requisitos del programa H-2A y la protección de los trabajadores.

La Oficina del Área de Búfalo de la Oficina de Distrito de Albany, Nueva York llevó a cabo la investigación.

Obtenga más información sobre la División de Horas y Salarios, incluida una herramienta de búsqueda que puede utilizar si cree que la división le debe salarios atrasados. El departamento puede hablar con quien llame de forma confidencial en más de 200 idiomas a través de la línea de ayuda gratuita de la agencia al 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Descárgate la nueva aplicación Timesheet App de la agencia para dispositivos iOS y Android -también disponible en español- para asegurarte de que las horas y el salario son correctos.

Read the release in English.

ALBANY, NY – The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered $37,103 in back wages for 86 workers employed by three agricultural industry employers — a Wayne County farm, a Michigan farm labor contractor and a Genesee County warehouse operator — whose employment practices shortchanged their wages and denied monies owed to them under federal regulations protecting temporary farmworkers.

The wage recovery began with an investigation by the department’s Wage and Hour Division at Lake Breeze Fruit Farms Inc. in Sodus, where the division determined the employer did not pay certain salaried employees — non-exempt under the Fair Labor Standards Act — the proper overtime rate for hours over 40 in workweeks when they handled other farms’ goods. Investigators also found the employer failed to keep accurate records of salaried non-exempt employees’ work hours, as required. To resolve its FLSA violations, Lake Breeze Fruit Farms paid $6,177 in back wages to 54 workers.

The division also learned that workers at the farm under the federal H-2A temporary agricultural program  labored seven days a week but the employer did not pay them overtime for working on their day of rest, a violation of Lake Breeze’s promise to follow New York state law as part of its H-2A obligations. Investigators also determined that, while Lake Breeze kept a record of total weekly hours worked, they failed to record daily hours worked, an H-2A program requirement. The employer paid an additional $4,339 in back wages to 54 employees for these violations.

During their investigation, division investigators met workers from D Perez Harvesting LLC, a Three Rivers, Michigan, labor contractor that supplied the farm’s H-2A workers. They learned the contractor paid workers a piece rate for the number of bushels of apples picked which led the workers to be paid less than federal adverse effect wage rates. 

The division also found D Perez Harvesting did not pay H-2A workers required expenses for travel from its Michigan location to the New York job site. The contractor also failed to reimburse workers fully for the cost of transportation back to their place of residency at the work contract’s end and did not pay for workers’ required expenses for their trips home. To resolve these H-2A violations, D Perez Harvesting paid $25,201 owed to 78 employees.

In yet another finding, investigators encountered people employed by Farm Fresh First LLC of Oakfield working in the office and grading shed at Lake Breeze. The division found the employer, a farm product warehousing and storage company, failed to pay overtime to one salaried non-exempt employee and to keep records of their work hours. Farm Fresh First paid $1,385 in back wages to one worker to resolve the FLSA violations.

In addition to the back wage recoveries, the division assessed Lake Breeze Fruit Farms Inc. with $1,636 in civil money penalties and D Perez Harvesting LLC with $4,703 in civil money penalties for their H-2A violations, which both employers have paid.

“Employers who benefit from the H-2A temporary agricultural program must know and follow lawful, established pay practices. Workers in this program provide critical labor for New York’s agriculture industry needs. Their employers must pay H-2A workers as their contracts require and provide them with what they need to live and work safely,” explained Wage and Hour Division District Director Jay Rosenblum in Albany, New York.

“Violations like those found in these investigations are preventable with knowledge and due diligence,” Rosenblum added. “Employers unsure of their responsibilities under the H-2A program and other laws enforced by the Wage and Hour Division should feel free to contact us.”

The H-2A temporary agricultural program allows agricultural employers who anticipate a shortage of domestic workers to bring nonimmigrant foreign workers to the U.S. to perform agricultural labor or services of a temporary or seasonal nature. Learn more about the H-2A program’s requirements and worker protections.

The Buffalo Area Office of the division’s Albany, New York, District Office conducted the investigation.

Learn more about the Wage and Hour Division, including a search tool to use if you think you may be owed back wages collected by the division. 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 Timesheet App for iOS and Android devices – also available in Spanish – to ensure hours and pay are accurate.

Lea el comunicado en español.