Employer:                                         

Rincon Brewery Inc.

4100 Telegraph Road

Ventura, CA 93003

Investigation findings: Investigators with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division found Rincon Brewery — operator of three California restaurants in Carpinteria, Santa Barbara and Ventura — allowed managers and supervisors to keep a portion of customers’ tips, a violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act. They determined the employer distributed tips to employees based on job classifications, with non-tipped managers keeping the highest percentage of tips.

Back Wages/Liquidated Damages Recovered:     

$30,439 in back wages for 105 employees

$30,439 in liquidated damages for 105 employees

Quote: “Food service industry employers must know that tips are the property of tipped employees who earn them,” said Wage and Hour Division Assistant District Director Siriporn Poondee in Los Angeles. “Under no condition may restaurants withhold tips earned by employees, including sharing any portion of employees’ tips with managers or supervisors.”

Background: In fiscal year 2022, the Wage and Hour Division recovered more than $27 million for more than 22,000 workers in the food service industry. In 2022, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported near record numbers of job openings and workers in the accommodations and food services industry quitting their jobs. 

The Wage and Hour Division protects workers against retaliation and has regulations that prohibit retaliation, harassment, intimidation or adverse actions against employees that assert their worker rights. 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. Workers and employers with questions can contact the division’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243), regardless of where they are from.

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

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor announced today that its Wage and Hour Division will offer online seminars for contracting agencies, contractors, unions, workers and other stakeholders on the requirements for paying prevailing wages on federally funded construction and service contracts.

Part of the division’s effort to increase awareness and improve compliance, the seminars will include recorded training videos on a variety of Davis-Bacon Act and Service Contract Act topics that participants can view on-demand. The division will then offer live Q&A sessions to provide additional information.

Q&A sessions on compliance issues will be offered as follows:

• Davis-Bacon Act: June 27 and Sept. 13.
• Service Contract Act: June 28 and Sept. 14.

“Prevailing wage laws are key to ensuring that construction and service jobs are good jobs and that workers on federally funded projects across the country are paid fair wages and benefits,” said Principal Deputy Wage and Hour Administrator Jessica Looman. “Recent investments in our nation’s infrastructure offer us a great opportunity to educate employers so they can compete for new federal contract opportunities and put skilled employees to work in their communities.”

While seminar attendance is free, registration is required. Additional information, including the links to pre-recorded video trainings and virtual Q&A sessions, will be provided to participants after registration.

For more information on the Davis-Bacon Act, the Service Contract Act, and other federal wage laws, please call the department’s toll-free helpline at 1-866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Learn more about the Wage and Hour Division.

VIRGINIA BEACH, VA – The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered more than $604,000 in back wages and liquidated damages for 50 employees of a Virginia Beach home healthcare agency that illegally asked workers to waive their right to receive hard-earned overtime pay.

An investigation by the department’s Wage and Hour Division found Progressive Services of Virginia LLC and co-owners Georgiana Smith and Richard Smith asked direct care employees to sign documents waiving their rights to overtime compensation. The employers paid straight-time rates for hours over 40 in a workweek.

The division recovered $302,144 in back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages for the affected workers and assessed the employers $18,703 in civil money penalties for their intentional violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

“The Fair Labor Standards Act does not permit employers to deny overtime pay or to instruct workers to waive their overtime pay,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Roberto Melendez in Richmond, Virginia. “Employees should know their workplace rights and employers must understand and comply with the law.”  

Progressive Services of Virginia provides in-home intellectual disabilities and developmental disabilities services for children, adolescents and adults in the Chesapeake, Virginia Beach, Norfolk and Portsmouth areas.

Learn more about direct care workers and the responsibility of their employers to comply with federal minimum wage and overtime law.

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 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.

Lea el comunicado en español.

SACRAMENTO – Federal wage and hour investigators have seen corrupt employers try all kinds of scams to shortchange workers and to intimidate or retaliate against employees but a northern California restaurant’s attempt to use an alleged priest to get employees to admit workplace “sins” may be among the most shameless.

During litigation by the U.S. Department of Labor in federal court, an employee of Che Garibaldi Inc., operator of Taqueria Garibaldi, testified that the restaurant offered employees a person identified as a priest to hear confessions during work hours. The employee told the court the priest urged workers to “get the sins out,” and asked employees if they had stolen from the employer, been late for work, had done anything to harm their employer, or if they had bad intentions toward their employer.

Ultimately, the employer agreed to a consent judgment, and Judge William B. Shubb in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California ordered Che Garibaldi and owners and operators Eduardo Hernandez, Hector Manual Martinez Galindo and Alejandro Rodriguez to pay $140,000 in back wages and damages to 35 employees. Che Garibaldi Inc. operates two Taqueria Garibaldi restaurants in Sacramento and one in Roseville.

The court’s May 8, 2023, action follows an investigation by the department’s Wage and Hour Division that found Taqueria Garibaldi denied employees overtime pay for hours over 40 in a workweek, a violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act. They also learned the employer paid managers from the employee tip pool illegally, threatened employees with retaliation and adverse immigration consequences for cooperating with the department, and fired one worker who they believed had complained to the department.

“Under oath, an employee of Taqueria Garibaldi explained how the restaurant offered a supposed priest to hear their workplace ‘sins’ while other employees reported that a manager falsely claimed that immigration issues would be raised by the department’s investigation,” said Regional Solicitor of Labor Marc Pilotin in San Francisco. “This employer’s despicable attempts to retaliate against employees were intended to silence workers, obstruct an investigation and prevent the recovery of unpaid wages.”

In addition to aiding the recovery of $70,000 in back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages, the judge ordered the restaurant and its owners to pay the department $5,000 in civil money penalties due to the willful nature of their violations.

“The U.S. Department of Labor and its Solicitor’s Office will not tolerate workplace retaliation and will act swiftly to make clear that immigration status has no bearing on workers’ rights under the Fair Labor Standards Act,” Pilotin added.

The court also ordered the defendants permanently forbidden from FLSA violations. Specifically, the court ordered Taqueria Garibaldi not to take any action to stop employees from asserting their rights, interfere with any department investigation, or terminate, threaten or discriminate against any employee perceived to have spoken with investigators.

The division’s Sacramento District Office conducted the investigation. The department’s Regional Solicitor’s Office in San Francisco litigated the case.

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.

Julie A. Su, acting Secretary of Labor, U.S. Department of Labor vs. Che Garibaldi dba Taqueria Garibaldi, a California corporation; Eduardo Hernandez; Hector Manual Martinez Galindo; and Alejandro Rodriguez.

Case No. 2:22-cv-00756-wbs-kjn

Este comunicado de prensa también está disponible en Español.  

LABELLE, FL – Federal investigators have found that a subcontractor employed during construction of a new reservoir pump station on the Caloosahatchee River in Hendry County failed to pay 11 electricians the correct wage rate for the federally supported project, denying them $171,998 in wages and benefits.

The U.S. Department of Labor determined Quality Electric Contracting Inc. of Clewiston should have paid the electricians $37 per hour to pull wire, run conduit and ground wire for the new Labelle pump station but paid them $25 per hour or less for their work.

After reviewing the company’s pay records, the department’s Wage and Hour Division learned the employer paid some electricians the lower rates for laborers and others a higher laborers’ rate. Ultimately, Quality Electric failed to pay the electricians the project’s prevailing wage rate. The subcontractor also did not provide the project’s required health and welfare benefits to most of the affected workers.

In doing so, the employer violated provisions of the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts and the Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act. These regulations govern pay practices of construction contractors and subcontractors working on federally funded or assisted contracts.

“When they bid on federally supported contracts, employers must follow the applicable wage classification rates in the contracts and cannot negotiate and pay lower rates,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Nicolas Ratmiroff in Tampa, Florida. “Employers who fail to pay workers the required wage rates in the awarded contract can find themselves liable for significant amounts of back wages and, in some cases, debarred from bidding on future contracts.”

Employers who have questions about complying with the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts are encouraged to attend an upcoming prevailing wage seminar.

The South Florida Water Management District project’s prime contractor, Harry, Pepper & Associates Inc. subcontracted with Quality Electric Contracting to complete electrical work on the C-43 West Basin Storage Reservoir Pump Station.

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. The division also offers numerous online resources for employers, including a website for government contracts compliance assistance and a fact sheet on the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts. Employers and workers can get their questions answered – regardless of where they are from – by contacting the Wage and Hour Division confidentially at its toll-free number, 1-866-4-US-WAGE. 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. 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.

PHILADELPHIA – A federal court has ordered a Philadelphia home care agency and its owner to pay more than $7 million in back wages and liquidated damages to 1,230 current and former employees after two years of litigation affirmed the U.S. Department of Labor’s finding that the employers willfully failed to pay overtime wages, in most cases by not including employees’ time for work-related travel when calculating wages.

On May 12, 2023, Judge Chad F. Kenney in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia found that Nursing Home Care Management Inc., operating as Prestige Home Care Agency, and its owner Alexander Dorfman owed $3,538,360 in back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages to the affected employees.

The department’s Office of the Solicitor in Philadelphia litigated the case, brought after the department’s Wage and Hour Division determined the employers had violated the overtime and recordkeeping provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

The court found that Prestige Home Care Agency willfully did the following:

• Failed to pay the required overtime rate for hours over 40 in a workweek by not paying home health aides for time spent traveling between clients’ homes in the same workday and between Prestige’s administrative office and clients’ homes in the same workday.
• Paid certain employees straight-time hourly rates for all hours worked, including for hours over 40 in a workweek.
• Segregated types of work performed by certain employees during a workweek rather than combining all hours worked when computing overtime wages due.
• Failed to keep accurate time and payroll records as required by law.

“Unfortunately, our investigators found yet another Philadelphia-area home health agency willfully shortchanging employees and skirting the law,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director James Cain in Philadelphia. “In this case, Prestige Home Care Agency denied 1,230 current and former employees more than $3.5 million in wages they earned for putting in long hours to help vulnerable people in our community.”

In June 2021, the department’s Office of the Solicitor in Philadelphia filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania against the employers to recover the back wages and liquidated damages owed. In response, Judge Chad F. Kenney ruled that the employers willfully violated the FLSA, granted the department’s motion for summary judgment and forbade the employers from violating the FLSA in the future.

“The court’s judgment affirms the Department of Labor’s position that home care employers must pay employees for travel time, which is an essential part of their job duties,” explained Deputy Regional Solicitor Samantha Thomas. “The outcome in this case serves as a stark reminder to other homecare employers that the consequences for shortchanging employees can be costly both to the company’s bottom line and to its industry reputation.”

Established in 1995, Prestige Home Care Agency provides medical and non-medical home care services to clients throughout Southeastern Pennsylvania. These services include skilled and home healthcare, veterans assistance, adult home and personal care and intellectual disability services.

The Wage and Hour Division’s Philadelphia District Office conducted the investigation. Trial Attorneys Brian Krier and Sharon McKenna with the department’s Philadelphia Regional Solicitor’s Office litigated the case.

For more information about the FLSA and other laws the division enforces, as well as information about regulations in the home care industry, 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, available in English and Spanish.

Employer:                              Tipsy Holding II LLC, operating as Tipsy Taco

Investigation sites:               215 Pelham Road, Greenville, SC 29615 – Headquarters

                                                15 Conostee Ave., Greenville, SC 29605

                                                728 Wade Hampton Blvd., Greenville, SC 29609

                                                102 Southern Center Way, Easley, SC 29642

                                                14180 E. Wade Hampton Blvd., Greer, SC 29651

                                                702 Fairview Road, Simpsonville, SC 29680

Investigation findings: Investigators with the department’s Wage and Hour Division found that Tipsy Holding II LLC failed to pay the half-time premium to cooks, servers and bar employees for hours over 40 in a workweek, an overtime violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act. The employer also failed to keep accurate records for workers.

Back Wages and Liquidated Damages Recovered: $567,079 for 215 workers.                                               

Quote: “As food service industry employers struggle to find people to fill the jobs needed to remain competitive, they should remember that keeping and finding workers is harder for employers who don’t respect workers’ rights and shortchange them of their full wages,” said Wage and Hour District Director Jamie Benefiel in Columbia, South Carolina. “Overtime violations are common in the restaurant industry, but they shouldn’t be. There are more than enough resources available to employers to help them understand their obligations to employees under the law.”

Background: In fiscal year 2022, the Wage and Hour Division recovered more than $27.1 million for more than 22,000 workers in the food service industry. 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 track hours worked and pay by downloading the department’s Timesheet App for Android or Apple devices for free.

Learn more about Wage and Hour Division.

Employer name:       Petroline Inc., operator of Putnam Truck Stop                                                                                                                                                                           565 Tonnele Ave., Jersey City, New Jersey 07307

Investigation findings: The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division determined that the employer failed to pay an overtime premium to gas station attendants for hours worked over 40 in a work week, as required by the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Back wages recovered: $100,811

Workers affected: 15 employees

Quote: “Employers must understand that paying workers a fixed salary does not automatically excuse them from paying overtime. Unless a specific exemption applies, even workers paid on a salary basis must be paid overtime when they work more than 40 hours in a week,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Paula Ruffin in Mountainside, New Jersey. “The Wage and Hour Division offers numerous tools to help employers learn about their responsibilities and how to comply with the law. We encourage employers to reach out to us for assistance.”

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, available in English and Spanish.

SAN FRANCISCO – The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a preliminary federal court injunction forbidding the operator of 14 San Francisco Bay Area Subway locations from violating child labor laws, threatening and retaliating against workers and obstructing a federal investigation.

The action by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California comes amid allegations made by investigators with the department’s Wage and Hour Division that John Michael Meza, owner and operator of the Subway franchises, directed employees as young as 14 and 15 to operate dangerous equipment, allowed children to work longer and at times not permitted by law, issued hundreds of bad checks to employees, failed to pay their wages regularly and kept tips left by customers.

The division also alleges that Meza interfered with its investigation by coercing employees not to cooperate with investigators and threatening children who raised concerns or tried to exercise their legal rights.

During their review, investigators determined several Subway workers had suffered burns and other injuries.

“Federal regulations protect young workers, ensure employees are paid all their hard-earned wages, and allow workers to freely cooperate with a federal investigation without fear of retaliation by their employer,” said Assistant District Director Alberto Raymond with the Wage and Hour Division in San Francisco. “While learning new skills in the workforce is an important part of growing up, federal law dictates that children’s jobs must be safe and that their work doesn’t interfere with their education or well-being.”

The division cited the employer for numerous violations of Fair Labor Standards Act provisions related to the payment of wages, child labor, recordkeeping, retaliation against employees and obstruction of a federal investigation.

“Our investigators learned this Subway franchisee directed young teenagers to operate ovens, toasters, cardboard balers and other equipment, all of which are considered dangerous jobs,” added Raymond. “The court has ordered the employer to stop jeopardizing the safety and well-being of minor-aged workers, to pay workers as the law requires and to ensure that workers can participate in our investigation without fear.”

Specifically, the court’s injunction forbids Meza, his Brentwood-based companies — MZS Enterprises LLC and Crave Brands LLC — his wife Jessica Leyva Meza and associate Hamza Ayesh from violating child labor regulations and from harassing and threatening labor investigators or employees, and from taking retaliatory actions such as termination, reduction of work hours, or threatening to report employees to law enforcement agencies, including immigration authorities.

The court also ordered the Subway franchisee and its owners to stop issuing employees checks drawn on account without sufficient funds and not to pay wages to employees using non-payroll accounts. They must also provide the department with an accounting of all bounced checks from Aug. 1, 2019 to May 19, 2023 to allow the division to calculate the funds owed to affected employees.

In addition, the employers must cease withholding $265,294 in unpaid wages in bounced employee checks and reimburse employees for bad check fees charged to employees by their financial institutions.

“The preliminary injunction we obtained is one tool we will use to prevent further exploitation and intimidation of young, vulnerable workers,” explained Regional Solicitor of Labor Marc Pilotin in San Francisco. “The department will take expeditious legal action when workers’ safety is threatened and when their employers intimidate them or otherwise attempt to obstruct an investigation.”

The investigation and litigation currently include the following 14 Subway franchise locations operated by Meza and his companies:

The division provides many resources to help employers comply with child labor laws Its 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 positive and safe 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, now available in English and Spanish for Android and Apple devices, to ensure hours and pay are accurate.

Julie A. Su, acting Secretary of Labor, U.S. Department of Labor vs. John Michael Meza, Jessica Leyva Meza, Hamza Ayesh, MZS Enterprises LLC, Crave Brands LLC

Civil Action No. 3:23-cv-01714

Nombre de empleador:              Whataburger Restaurant LLC                                        

Sitio de investigación:                7201 Quaker Ave.

                                                                Lubbock, TX 79424        

Resultados de la investigación: La División de Horas y Salarios del Departamento de Trabajo de EE.UU. encontró que una sucursal de Whataburger Restaurant LLC no proporcionó un tiempo de descanso razonable para que una empleada se extrajera leche materna, como lo requiere la Ley de Normas Justas de Trabajo (FLSA, por sus siglas en inglés). Los investigadores también determinaron que el empleador despidió a la trabajadora después de que esta saliera de las instalaciones para poderse extraerse leche. Para resolver las violaciones encontradas, el franquiciador con sede en San Antonio firmó un estricto acuerdo de cumplimiento que establece que proporcionará capacitación sobre la FLSA a todos los gerentes.

Salarios recuperados:              $900 en salarios atrasados y $900 en compensación por daños.

Cita: “Es ilegal privar a una madre lactante de su derecho a extraerse leche materna con suficiente tiempo de descanso para hacerlo y luego despedirla”, dijo la directora distrital de Horas y Salarios, Evelyn Ortiz, en Albuquerque, Nuevo México. “Los empleadores deben cumplir con todas las disposiciones de la FLSA, incluido el derecho de las madres lactantes a solicitar el tiempo y espacio que necesitan para extraerse la leche sin temor a represalias”.

En virtud de la Ley PUMP para Madres Lactantes, la mayoría de las empleadas que son madres lactantes tienen derecho a un tiempo de descanso razonable y a un lugar, que no sea un baño, protegido de la vista para expresar la leche materna mientras están en el trabajo. Este derecho está disponible hasta un año después del nacimiento del niño.

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