FORT MYERS, FL – While a Fort Myers restaurant operator’s choice to deny 75 servers all of their hard-earned tips may not be an uncommon violation of federal law, the decision comes with familiar and costly consequences after a U.S. Department of Labor investigation.

Investigators with the department’s Wage and Hour Division learned Ginza Fort Myers Inc. – operating as Ginza Japanese Restaurant – required servers to tip sushi chefs, owners and managers based on the servers’ total sales. The employer’s illegal actions made their tip pool invalid under federal law.

The division also found the employers could not account for $22,000 in tips they withheld and had no records to prove those tips were paid to servers or any other employee. The employer also failed to pay a regular rate and overtime to dual-occupation workers who completed separate job roles. All of these actions violated the Fair Labor Standards Act.

As a result of its investigation, the division recovered $262,322 in back wages and liquidated damages for the affected workers.

“Tips are the property of the employees who earn them. No employer has the right to keep any tips unless they are given directly to the manager who directly serves a customer,” explained Wage and Hour Division District Director Nicolas Ratmiroff in Tampa, Florida. “This case shows that when an employer handles tip pools improperly, they may no longer apply a tip credit which can lead to an employer owing employees significant back wages and damages.”

Ginza Fort Myers Inc. is a sushi and hibachi restaurant that opened in 2017 in Fort Myers.

Wage and Hour Division investigators recovered more than $27 million for more than 22,500 workers in the food service industry in fiscal year 2022. 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.

Help ensure hours worked and pay are accurate by downloading the department’s Android and iOS Timesheet App for free, also available in Spanish.

Employer:   CSI Catalano’s Nurses Registry Inc., operating as CSI

Investigation site: 3801 Bee Ridge Road,  Sarasota, FL 34233

Investigation findings: Investigators with the department’s Wage and Hour Division found the Florida nurse registry staffing service misclassified caregivers as independent contractors and paid them 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 hours in a workweek, a violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act. A consent judgment entered in the Northern District of Florida by the Office of the Solicitor resolved the case after a period of litigation, with the employer also agreeing with a court order not to commit future violations.

Back Wages Recovered: $260,221 for 61 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 Nicolas Ratmiroff in Tampa, Florida. “Employers should contact the Wage and Hour Division to determine if a worker is an employee or an independent contractor. In this case, the employer should have followed federal law in making their determination. When federal and state regulations conflict, employers must abide by the more restrictive of the regulations.”

Background: The Sarasota-based CSI Catalano’s Nurses Registry Inc. is part of Caregiver Services Inc. in Miami, and one of 14 nurse registries in 47 Florida counties. The company provides staffing that includes registered nurses, certified nursing assistants, home health aides and companions.

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 regardless of their immigration status. 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 android devices, available in English and Spanish, to ensure hours and pay are accurate.

OMAHA, NE – A U.S. Department of Labor investigation has recovered $272,163 in overtime back wages for 133 workers employed by an Omaha-based operator of six bars, restaurants and live music venues that used a tip pool illegally, and denied servers and salaried employees correct overtime wages.

Investigators with the department’s Wage and Hour Division found Maven Act II LLC violated provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act at six of its locations when they did the following:

• Included salaried managers when it instituted tip pools for servers. By doing so, the employer lost their ability to take a tip credit in workweeks when managers shared servers’ tips.
• Paid some servers time and one-half their cash wage in periods when the employer claimed a tip credit. The employer should have paid time and one-half the employees’ regular hourly rate.
• Classified workers as exempt from overtime but did not meet the necessary requirements. By doing so, the employer failed to pay time and one-half their pay rate for hours over 40 in a workweek.
• Did not maintain time records from May 2020 until January 2021.

The division also assessed $6,930 in civil money penalties for violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

“Servers and bartenders are often among our nation’s lowest paid workers. Making a living by depending on busy shifts and customers’ whims is hard enough, without being forced to overcome employers who fail to pay them as the law requires,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Marietta Taylor in Des Moines, Iowa. “Our investigation found Maven Act II LLC misused its tip pool and denied dozens of employees all of their hard-earned wages by violating federal overtime laws.”

The division identified violations at the following Omaha locations, and recovered wages for employees as follows:

In addition to the six establishments included in the division’s investigation, Maven Act II LLC also operates Maven Bar, a mobile bar service, and Maven Ice, a commercial craft ice company.

The department’s Quick Service Restaurants Compliance Assistance Toolkit explains wage laws for the industry.

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). 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 to ensure hours and pay are accurate.

Employer name:            Jurassic Street Tacos LLC

Investigation site:          242 East University Parkway Orem, UT 84058

                                                  275 North 500 West Provo, UT 84601

                                                  3604 Pony Express Parkway Eagle Mountain, UT 84005 (Taco Truck Location)

Investigation findings: The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division found the street tacos restaurant operator paid straight time for all hours worked and, by doing so, failed to pay overtime for hours over 40 in a workweek violating the Fair Labor Standards Act. The division also discovered the employer did not maintain accurate time records as the law requires.

Back wages recovered: $83,539 in back wages and $83,539 in liquidated damages to 56 workers                                                

Quote: “Jurassic Street Tacos denied its workers their rightful wages by not paying them the overtime premium as required by federal law. Unfortunately, this type of violation is common in the food service industry and deprives too many hard working people of their full pay,” said Wage Hour District Director Kevin Hunt in Salt Lake City. “We encourage employers to contact us to make sure they understand the laws governing pay practices so they can avoid the costly consequences of not complying with the law.”

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Employer:      Town and Country Inc., Cleveland, Missouri

Actions:          Filing of Fair Labor Standards Act complaint in federal court

Request for administrative judicial hearing

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

                       Office of Administrative Law Judges

Investigation findings: On March 28, 2023, the U.S. Department of Labor filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri alleging Town and Country Inc. and its owner, Gabriel Myers, violated federal overtime and recordkeeping requirements. The company is a painting contractor in the metro-Kansas City, Missouri, area.

The complaint seeks a total of $102,774 — representing $51,387 in unpaid overtime wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages — for 29 painters.

After a review of the employers’ payroll records from Dec. 1, 2019, to Nov. 30, 2021, the Wage and Hour Division alleges the company violated the Fair Labor Standards Act when it:

• Did not pay overtime at time and one-half the regular rate of pay for hours over 40 in a work week.
• Incorrectly recorded hours worked within a pay period, thus denying some employees proper overtime pay for hours over 40 in a workweek.

Town and Country, and Myers refused to resolve the violations administratively which led the department’s Regional Office of the Solicitor in Kansas City, Missouri to litigate the case and file the complaint.

In another action involving the company, Town and Country requested a hearing before the Office of Administrative Law Judges on Dec. 12, 2022, after the department’s investigation also determined that the company violated the federal H-2B Visa program by misclassifying eight painters — employed under the temporary nonimmigrant worker visa program — as painters’ helpers which denied them the hourly wages for painters. The division found these workers are owed $93,210 in back wages, and assessed the employer $26,052 in civil money penalties for its violations.

The H-2B visa program permits U.S. companies to hire foreign workers for non-agricultural or other jobs in the U.S. for a one-time occurrence, such labor needed on a seasonal, peak load or intermittent basis.

The Office of Administrative Law Judges will attempt to mediate the H-2B case and proceed to litigation if needed.

Quote: “Overtime violations are found much too often in our investigations, particularly among employees who may not understand their workers’ rights under federal law,” said Wage and Hour District Director Reed Trone in Kansas City, Missouri. “Every worker in the U.S. — including workers with temporary guest visas — must be paid as federal wage laws require. Town and Country knew its obligations as an H-2B program employer but failed to pay proper wages to people they brought to the U.S. to work as painters, instead illegally  paying them as helpers at lower wages.” ­

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.

SAN BERNADINO, CA – A San Bernardino home contractor has paid nearly $320,000 after willfully denying overtime wages to 143 painters and other employees, after a U.S. Department of Labor investigation.

Investigators with the department’s Wage and Hour Division determined that Sun West Services LLC did not pay overtime compensation for hours over 40 in a workweek to piece-rate painting and hourly cleaning workers. The employer also failed to maintain proper records of employees’ work hours and other payroll records. Both infractions violate provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

As a result of the investigation, the division has recovered a total of $286,289 — $143,144 in back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages — for the affected employees. In addition, the department assessed, and Sun West Services has paid, $33,705 in civil money penalties for the willful nature of the employer’s violations. The investigation reviewed the company’s pay practices from March 2019 through March 2022.

“Federal law requires employers to pay all employees all of their legally earned wages,” said Wage and Hour Division Assistant District Director Gayane Aleksanian in West Covina, California. “In this case, Sun West Services willfully denied more than 140 piece-rate and hourly employees for overtime hours worked. The company has now learned that the Wage and Hour Division will hold employers accountable for such failures and for the costly consequences that come with them.”

Located in San Bernardino, Sun West Services LLC is a residential contractor that provides interior and exterior painting of new homes.

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 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 – free and now available in Spanish- to ensure hours and pay are accurate.

Employers:         Nyrio Investments Corp., operating as Stateline Liquor & Wine at 1069 Main Street, Southaven, MS 38671

                             Three Star Investments, operating as Three Star Liquor Store, 3305 South 3rd Street, Memphis, TN 38109

                             Yala Investments Corp., operating as Spirits Unlimited at 3024 Covington Pike Street 1, Memphis, TN 38218

Investigation findings: U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division investigators found three liquor stores in Mississippi and Tennessee, which share common ownership, paid employees straight-time rates for all hours worked. By doing so, the employer failed to pay the employees a time-and-one-half premium rate for hours over 40 in a workweek, an overtime violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act. In addition, the employers did not maintain complete and accurate time and pay records.

Back wages and liquidated damages recovered: The division recovered $38,837 in back wages for 11 workers, and an equal amount in liquidated damages.     

Quote: “Employers must pay their employees the wages they have legally earned for all the hours they work,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Audrey Hall in Jackson, Mississippi. “There is no excuse for employers to intentionally deny these hard-working people their lawfully earned wages.”

Background: Employers can contact the Wage and Hour Division at its toll-free number, 866-4-US-WAGE. 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 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. Workers and employers alike can help ensure hours worked and pay are accurate by downloading the department’s Android Timesheet App for free, which is available in Spanish and English.  

Employer locations:   Westheimer Car Wash LLC, 12810 Westheimer Road, Houston (Headquarters)

                                      Hobby Car Wash LLC, 7991 Bellfort Ave., Houston

                                      Cypress Car Wash LLC, 12702 Jones Road, Houston                    

                                      Cy Fair Car Wash LLC, 2030 S. Texas 6, Houston

                                      Spring Car Wash LLC, 6880 Louetta Road, Spring                   

                                      Richmond Car Wash LLC, 1620 FM 359 Road, Richmond

                                      All operating as Dr. Car Wash Plus locations

Investigation findings: Investigators with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division found the employer paid straight time for hours worked without any overtime premium for hours over 40 in a workweek and did not include sales commissions in the regular rate for overtime purposes, both violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act. Investigators also determined the employer failed to keep complete and accurate records of the number of hours worked by employees and categorized the pay for hours worked over 40 as commission payment.

Back Wages Recovered: $114,221 for 92 workers.                                              

Quote: “When workers in low-wage industries are illegally denied overtime pay, it is difficult for them to make ends meet and care for their families,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Robin Mallett in Houston. “Federal law requires that employers pay workers all their hard-earned wages, including overtime pay for hours worked over 40 in a workweek. Dr. Car Wash Plus denied workers overtime pay by categorizing the pay as commission. We encourage employers to contact us with any questions regarding their obligations under the law.” 

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 the FLSA’s overtime pay requirements . Workers who feel they may not be getting the wages they earned may contact a Wage and Hour Division representative in their state by accessing the list of offices and an interactive online map on the agency’s website. Workers and employers alike can help ensure hours worked and pay are accurate by https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/timesheet-app

Learn more about the Wage and Hour Division.

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GRAND RAPIDS, MI – The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered $62,412 in back wages and damages for 20 workers after a federal court in Michigan supported the department’s findings that a Grand Rapids restaurant denied overtime wages to the workers and failed to pay minimum wage to one server.

Under terms of a consent order and judgment entered by the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan on April 4, Tacos el Cuñado Alpine LLC and owner Jessica Lopez will make immediate restitution to the employees denied their full wages.

Judge Robert J. Jonker’s order resolves the department’s March 15, 2023, lawsuit prompted by an investigation by the department’s Wage and Hour Division that identified the violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act and ordered Lopez to pay $31,206 in back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages to the restaurant’s affected current and former employees.

Specifically, division investigators learned the employer failed to keep accurate pay records and to pay tipped and non-tipped workers time-and-one-half their average rate of pay for hours over 40 in a workweek. The FLSA requires the payment of minimum wage and overtime.

“The failure to pay overtime wages is far too common in the restaurant industry, particularly among vulnerable employees who may not understand their rights to overtime,” said Wage and Hour District Director Mary O’Rourke in Grand Rapids, Michigan. “The Wage and Hour Division provides confidential advice, if needed, to workers and employers unsure of federal wage standards and compliance with the law.” ­

The investigation reviewed the employer’s payroll records from Aug. 13, 2020 to Aug. 12, 2022. The department filed its complaint after Tacos el Cuñado Alpine LLC and Lopez failed to resolve the wage violations administratively. The department’s Regional Office of the Solicitor in Chicago litigated the case.

The FLSA requires the payment of minimum wage and overtime at time and one-half a worker’s average hourly rate of pay, including bonuses. Learn about specific FLSA rules for the restaurant industry.

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.

Su v. Tacos el Cuñado Alpine LLC, Jessica Lopez

U.S. District Court for Western Division of Michigan

Case: 2:23-cv-272

Employer:                                          Timberline Construction Group LLC

                                                            9000 Philips Highway

                                                            Jacksonville, FL 32256

Investigation findings: The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division found the employer wrongly classified workers as exempt from overtime. By doing so, they failed to pay employees the time-and-a-half overtime premium due for hours over 40 in a workweek, a violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act. 

Back wages recovered for workers:   $108,127 for 21 employees.                                               

Quote: “Employees who are classified as non-exempt and work more than 40 hours in a workweek, must be paid additional compensation. The employer reviewed its pay practices and agreed to future compliance. The division encourages all employers to use this example to ensure compliance with the law,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Wildalí De Jesús in Orlando, Florida. “The Wage and Hour Division provides resources to employers and employees to help understand their responsibilities and rights under the law.”

Background: Headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, Timberline Construction Group LLC is a commercial construction company that provides site development, directional drilling, manufactured housing, as well as disaster response and community housing services. The company employs more than 200 people in Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Missouri, North Carolina, Texas and West Virginia.

Employers can contact the Wage and Hour Division at its toll-free number, 1-866-4-US-WAGE. Learn more about the Wage and Hour Division, including numerous online resources for employers, such as a fact sheet on overtime pay requirements of the FLSA. Additional guidance on recovery work associated with natural disasters can be found on this compliance assistance toolkit.