ORLANDO, FL – Investigations by the U.S. Department of Labor of 11 central Florida heating, ventilation and air conditioning contractors have recovered more than $113,000 in back wages and liquidated damages for 169 workers whose employers’ illegal pay practices denied them their full wages.

The department’s Wage and Hour Division investigators identified a wide variety of violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act by the contractors that undercut their employees’ wages. Some failed to include bonuses and commissions in workers’ rates of pay when calculating overtime and, as a result, paid overtime at rates lower than those permitted by law for hours over 40 in a workweek.

Investigators found that other contractors failed to combine hours of work when employees performed different jobs for the same employer. For example, an employer paid workers by the hour for work on new construction and on a piece-rate basis for direct service to customers but did not combine the hours worked each week for the purpose of determining and paying overtime due. In another violation of overtime regulations, an employer awarded employees compensatory time off on an hour-for-hour basis for hours over 40 in a workweek, when the law requires these workers be paid a time-and-one-half rate.

In all of the investigations, the division cited employers for failing to keep accurate payroll records.

The 11 investigations included six entities owned by David Cox, Ryan Cox and Richard Allard, and operated as either One Hour Heating & Air Conditioning or Ben Franklin Plumbing. Other entities investigated include Air Source America Inc., owned by Jason M. Buehler and operated as Buehler Air Conditioning; Barineau Heating & Air Conditioning Inc., owned by Patrick Barineau and operated as Barineau Heating & Air Conditioning; Sun Kool Air Conditioning Supply LLC, owned by Frank Nicholson III and operated as Sun Kool Heating and Air; Swamp Heating and Air LLC, owned by Maria V. Radziminski and operated as Gator Heating and Air Conditioning; and Weather Engineering, owned by James Daniel Griffin and operated as A+ Air Conditioning & Refrigeration.

“Employers who fail to pay their workers all of their rightfully earned wages make it more difficult for employees and their families to make ends meet,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Wildalí De Jesús in Orlando, Florida. “The violations found in these investigations of HVAC companies in central Florida could have been avoided. We encourage employers and employees with questions about compliance with federal wage laws to contact us for more information.”

Employment of heating, air conditioning and refrigeration mechanics and installers is projected to grow 5 percent by 2030, adding more than 38,000 HVAC jobs each year. 

“Employers who do not respect their workers’ rights will likely struggle to retain and recruit the people they need to remain competitive, as workers look for opportunities with employers that do,” De Jesús added.

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 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). Help ensure hours worked and pay are accurate by downloading the department’s Android Timesheet App for free.

SOUTHAVEN, MS – The operator of five Wing Stop franchise locations in Mississippi who made employees pay for their uniforms, safety training, background checks and cash register shortages – and violated child labor regulations – has been held  accountable by the U.S. Department of Labor, and paid $114,427 in back wages, liquidated damages and civil penalties.

The department’s Wage and Hour Division investigation into the pay practices of Boss Wings Enterprises LLC in Southaven discovered several violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act, including the following:

• Minimum wage violations when paycheck deductions for uniforms and cash register shortages caused some employees’ average hourly rates to fall below the $7.25 federal minimum wage.
• Overtime violations when the employer’s deductions for safety training and background checks illegally decreased the rate-of-pay in weeks when workers earned overtime, and led Boss Wings to pay overtime at rates lower than federal law requires.
• Recordkeeping violations for failing to maintain a record of employee hours worked and wage deductions.

The investigation led to the recovery of $51,674 in back wages and liquidated damages for 244 workers, and an assessment of $62,753 in civil money penalties.

“Restaurant industry employees work hard, often for low wages, and many depend on every dollar earned to make ends meet,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Audrey Hall in Jackson, Mississippi. “The law prevents Boss Wing Enterprises LLC from shifting operating costs to workers by deducting the costs of uniforms, cash register shortages or training expenses, or to allow a worker’s pay to fall below the minimum wage rate.”

In addition to the wage violations, division investigators learned that Boss Wings allowed a 15-year-old employee to work past 10 p.m. several times in June 2021, a violation of FLSA child labor work hours standards. Standards prohibit 14- and 15-year-olds from working before 7 a.m., or after 7 p.m. from June 1, through Labor Day.

The investigation included the following Wing Stop locations operated by Boss Wings Enterprises LLC: 

• Boss Wings XXX LLC, operating as Wing Stop #1590 in Clarksdale.
• Boss Wings XXV LLC, operating as Wing Stop #753 in Tupelo.
• Boss Wings XXVI LLC, operating as Wing Stop #777 in Starkville.
• Boss Wings XII LLC, operating as Wing Stop in Olive Branch.
• Boss Wings XXVII LLC, operating as Wing Stop #832 in Oxford.

In fiscal year 2021, the Wage and Hour Division recovered more than $34.7 million for more than 29,000 workers in the food service industry. In 2022, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports near record numbers of job openings and workers in the accommodations and food services industry quitting their jobs. 

“Employers who do not respect their workers’ rights will likely struggle to retain and recruit the people they need to remain competitive, as workers look for opportunities with employers that do,” Hall added.

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 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). Help ensure hours worked and pay are accurate by downloading the department’s Android Timesheet App for free.

PITTSBURGH – In return for providing essential homecare for people in need, 218 workers employed by a Pittsburgh-based home care agency expected their employer to pay them all their hard-earned wages. Instead, they found their employer denied them overtime wages, and manipulated records to hide the wage theft.     

Following an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division in Pittsburgh, and litigation by the Regional Solicitor’s Office in Philadelphia, the department has obtained a consent judgment requiring that Everest Home Care LLC and owner Bhuwan Acharya pay more than $1.4 million in back wages and liquidated damages to the affected employees.

Investigators with the department’s Wage and Hour Division determined the employer paid workers a straight-time hourly rate instead of one-and-one-half their required rate for hours over 40 in a workweek. They also found the agency attempted to mask the wage theft by representing straight-time pay as overtime when overtime wages were required. Everest Home Care also failed to include recruitment commissions and hourly coronavirus hazard pay in employees’ required rates of pay when calculating overtime. All of these actions violate the Fair Labor Standards Act.

“Home healthcare workers provide vital services to people in need and their families,” said Principal Deputy Wage and Hour Division Administrator Jessica Looman. “The U.S. Department of Labor is committed to enforcing worker protections and holding accountable employers who defy the law and deny workers the hard-earned wages on which they depend to care for themselves and their families.”

Entered in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania on Aug. 5, 2022, the consent judgement requires Everest Home Care and Acharya to pay $719,962 in back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages.

“Wage theft is an all-too-common concern in the healthcare industry, and we are determined to use our resources to hold employers who violate federal labor laws accountable to the fullest extent,” said Solicitor of Labor Seema Nanda. “By recovering wages and liquidated damages, when appropriate, for workers we send a clear message to employers in all industries that consequences can be costly for employers who flout the law.”  

In addition to back wages and damages, the division assessed $85,075 in civil money penalties given the willful nature of the employers’ FLSA violations.

In fiscal year 2021, the division recovered more than $13.8 million for more than 17,000 healthcare industry workers. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that there were more 1.9 million job openings in the healthcare and social assistance industry, and that more than 717,000 industry workers quit their jobs in May 2022 – all of which is forcing employers to compete hard to retain and recruit the people they need to operate.

“As the U.S. population ages rapidly, healthcare workers are in great demand and facing record burnout at the same time,” Looman added. “Healthcare industry employers who fail to respect workers’ rights are more likely to struggle than their competitors as they seek to attract and retain workers.”

Everest Home Care LLC provides personal assistance, home- and community-based services, and long-term living assistance. In addition to its Pittsburgh headquarters, the company operates a second location in Erie.

View the complaint and learn more about the consent judgment.

For more information about the FLSA and other laws enforced by the division, contact the agency’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. 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, now available for android devices, to ensure hours and pay are accurate.

Employer:                                        Wooden Shoe Farms

Investigation site:                       673 North 825 West

                                                             Blackfoot, ID 83221

Investigation findings:                      U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division investigators found Wooden Shoe Farms underpaid migrant farm workers, and provided unsafe and unhealthy housing with insufficient smoke detectors, inadequate ventilation and a lack of first-aid kits. The employer also failed to pay workers for all inbound and outbound transportation costs from their home countries, did not keep records for 3 years and neglected to provide the work contract to all workers and pay the required rates of pay. These failures violated multiple requirements of the H-2A agricultural worker program. In addition, investigators learned that Wooden Shoe Farms allowed a 15-year-old to operate a tractor, a child labor violation.

Back Wages Recovered:                   $44,652 in back wages for 28 farmworkers

Civil Money Penalties Assessed:      $19,895 in penalties

Quote: “Farmworkers provide essential labor that puts food on millions of American tables and the U.S. Department of Labor will protect their rights vigorously, regardless of their native homes,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Carrie Aguilar in Portland, Oregon. “The denial of basic living conditions for these workers violates provisions of the H-2A agricultural worker program and we will hold employers like Wooden Shoe Farms accountable for violations like those found in this case.”

Background: Learn more about the Wage and Hour Division, and its search tool 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 Timesheet App for free.

HEBRON, KY – The initial discovery of illegal pay practices at a Hebron, Kentucky, warehouse by the U.S. Department of Labor led to a broader investigation that found systemic overtime violations by a California-based warehouse operator and e-commerce distributor, and a determination that the employer owes $1,025,909 in back wages to 995 warehouse workers in Kentucky and California.

Investigators with the department’s Wage and Hour Division found that WIN.IT America Inc. – the U.S. branch of WINIT Information Technology Co. in Hong Kong, an e-commerce supply chain solution provider – failed to include merit-based bonuses in employees’ regular rates of pay when calculating overtime rates. By doing so, the City of Industry, California-based employer paid overtime at rates lower than required under the Fair Labor Standards Act.

In addition, WIN.IT paid some workers straight-time rates for all hours worked, failing to pay the additional half-time rate for hours over 40 in a workweek. The employer also misapplied the overtime rules for some salaried employees, which denied them overtime wages when required.

“What began as an investigation of pay practices at a Hebron, Kentucky, warehouse became a wide-ranging review of a prominent e-commerce solutions provider that found systemic failures to ensure their workers’ rights to be paid all of their hard-earned wages,” explained Deputy Principal Wage and Hour Division Administrator Jessica Looman. “As the demand for warehouse workers and the popularity of online shopping grows, e-commerce employers must ensure they comply fully with federal protections of workers’ wages and benefits.”

The investigation included WIN.IT warehouse locations in Hebron and Walton, Kentucky; and Walnut and City of Industry, California.

“Workers will naturally flock to businesses that show an ability to pay them their full wages on time,” Looman added. “Employers who fail to meet their legal obligation to workers and make it harder for them to make ends meet may find themselves struggling to hire the people they need to operate.”

The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects employment in transportation and warehousing, excluding the postal service, to grow about 327,300 new jobs over the next decade.

Established in October 2013, WIN.IT America Inc. is a subsidiary of WINIT Information Technology Co. in Hong Kong.

Workers can call the Wage and Hour Division confidentially with questions and the department can speak with callers in more than 200 languages.

For information about the FLSA and other laws the division enforces, contact the agency at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Learn more about the Wage and Hour Division, and its search tool if you think you are owed back wages the division has collected.

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

SAN FRANCISCO – The U.S. Department of Labor has entered into a conciliation agreement with Esri-based in Redlands, California, to resolve preliminary findings of a federal compliance evaluation that allege the company paid 176 female employees less than their male counterparts in 2017.

The department’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs alleged that from Jan. 1 through Dec. 31, 2017, Esri – a digital mapping and analytics company – systemically discriminated against 143 female software development engineers and 33 female quality assurance engineers at its Redlands headquarters.

Esri entered into an Early Resolution Agreement voluntarily to resolve the allegations, and agreed to pay $2.3 million in back wages and interest to the affected employees. The company will also review and revise its overall compensation system, provide enhanced training to its managers to ensure future compliance, and conduct annual compensation analyses.   

“Federal contractors must ensure that their compensation policies and practices provide equal pay and do not lead to discrimination based on gender,” said Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs Director Jenny R. Yang. “Federal contractors must conduct annual pay equity audits and take proactive efforts to assess compensation systems and remedy unjustified pay gaps.”

Executive Order 11246 prohibits federal contractors and federally assisted construction contractors and subcontractors from discriminating in employment decisions based on race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or national origin.

OFCCP launched the Class Member Locator to identify applicants or workers who may be entitled to monetary relief and/or consideration for job placement as a result of OFCCP’s compliance evaluations and complaint investigations. If you think you may be eligible for back pay from this settlement, or may know someone who is, please visit the OFCCP Class Member Locator to learn more about this and other settlements.

Learn more about OFCCP.

CLEVELAND, TN – The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered $374,493 wages and liquidated damages for 62 construction workers employed by a Cleveland contractor that denied them overtime wages when required by federal law, and jeopardized the safety of an 11-year-old by employing them as a groundskeeper allowed to operate dangerous equipment.

The department’s Wage and Hour Division investigators found the pay practices of Tom Willumson LLC – operating as Concept Construction – violated the Fair Labor Standards Act as follows:

• Failing to provide one worker their final paycheck, resulting in a minimum wage violation.
• Incorrectly classifying some workers as independent contractors and paying them straight-time for all hours worked. By doing so, the employer did not pay the additional half-time rate for hours over 40 in a workweek, an overtime violation.
• Paying some workers the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour, then providing them bonuses to make up the difference between the minimum wage and a previously agreed-upon rate of pay. This practice led to the employer’s failure to pay the required overtime rate to workers.

In addition to the wage violations, investigators learned Concept Construction employed an 11-year-old as a groundskeeper, who was allowed to operate a farm-style tractor and weed-eating equipment, as well as work more than 8 hours in a day, all in violation of FLSA child labor provisions. As a result of their investigation, the division assessed a $14,944 civil money penalty to the employer for the child labor violations.

“Construction industry workers are among those who too often suffer wage theft because their employers either misunderstand their legal obligations or intentionally shortchange them and undercut their competitors at the same time,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Lisa Kelly in Nashville, Tennessee. “The U.S. Department of Labor is committed to holding these employers accountable for their actions – in error or by design – to ensure workers are paid all of their hard-earned wages and receive the benefits the law provides.”

In fiscal year 2021, the division recovered more than $36 million for more than 21,000 construction industry workers in more than 3,000 investigations. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects there were more than 434,000 job openings for construction workers, and that about 220,000 industry workers quit their jobs in May 2022, all of which makes for a highly competitive job market. 

“The current job market has empowered workers and given them the ability to make choices about the employer for whom they work,” Kelly explained. “Employers who fail to respect workers’ rights are likely to find it increasingly difficult to retain and recruit the people they need to operate their businesses, and they may lose out to those who recognize and reward workers for their contributions.”

The 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, including fact sheets with information about requirements for hiring young workers.

“Concept Construction’s decision to allow an 11-year-old child to operate a farm-style tractor and weed-eating equipment is hard to understand,” Kelly said. “Laws to prevent such actions exist to prevent life-changing injuries or worse from occurring and this employer has learned there are costly consequences to bear.”

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.

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 agency’s website to 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 Timesheet App for free.

Read this news release En Español.

HONOLULU – A U.S. Department of Labor investigation has recovered $156,837 in back wages from a Honolulu contractor who paid 46 workers lower wages than the law allows for the type of work they performed under federal contracts awarded by U.S. Marine Corps, Navy, Army and Coast Guard in Hawaii.

The department’s Wage and Hour Division determined that Tunista Services LLC failed to pay truck drivers, material handling laborers, warehouse specialists, forklift operators, service order dispatchers, janitors and other workers the correct wage rates set by federal law for their services. Instead, the employer paid several workers lower hourly rates than required for their occupations, in violation of the McNamara-O’Hara Service Contract Act.

Tunista Services also violated the provisions in the act – which governs employee pay standards for contractors and subcontractors on federally funded contracts – when they failed to provide the required health benefits, sick leave pay, holiday pay and vacation pay.

In addition, the employer violated the Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act, which requires overtime pay for hours over 40 in a workweek. The employer based its overtime calculations on the lower, incorrect wage rate and failed to pay the full overtime due.

The $156,837 recovery includes $84,995 for paying incorrect occupational wages, $56,596 for underpayment of fringe benefits, $14,791 reimbursement for unpaid sick leave and $455 in overtime pay for the affected workers.

“Federal contractors who fail to pay correct wages and fringe benefits shortchange workers, reduce their labor costs illegally and gain unfair advantage over their law-abiding competitors,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Terence Trotter in Honolulu. “We strongly encourage all federal contractors to review their own pay practices and ensure they comply with the law.”

Learn more about the division, including its search tool to learn if you are owed back wages collected by the division. For confidential compliance assistance about the Service Contract Act and the Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act, call the agency’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Help ensure hours worked and pay are accurate by downloading the department’s Android and iOS Timesheet App for free.

LOUISVILLE, KY – The U.S. Department of Labor recovered $130,879 in back wages and liquidated damages for 68 workers after a Beattyville-based food services contractor failed to pay their full wages by incorrectly applying overtime rules for managers.

Investigators with the department’s Wage and Hour Division found that Kellwell Food Management Inc. failed to pay managers the minimum salary required, $684 per week, to waive overtime pay requirements. Since the employer failed to meet this requirement, they owed the employees the additional half-time overtime rate for all hours over 40 hours in a workweek. The employer’s actions violated the Fair Labor Standards Act.

“Simply paying a salary or a daily rate of wages does not waive an employer’s legal obligation to pay overtime,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Karen Garnett-Civils in Louisville, Kentucky. “If the minimum salary requirement is not met or if employee’s insufficient management duties fail to meet the legal requirements for waiving overtime, then they are entitled to overtime pay.”

“Employers should review their pay practices and overtime rules to avoid similar compliance issues and contact the Wage and Hour Division with any questions,” Garnett-Civils added.

Founded in 1992, Kellwell Food Management Inc. provides food, laundry services and commissary services at correctional facilities in Alabama, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Mississippi, South Carolina and Tennessee.

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 their immigration status – and the department can speak with callers in more than 200 languages.

WASHINGTON – In the summer months, many employers hire young workers to meet increased demand. Across the nation in 2022, millions of teenagers are working in the agriculture, food services, retail, recreation and construction industries. At the same time, increases in child labor violations has the U.S. Department of Labor stepping up employer outreach and enforcement actions to help employers prevent young workers’ jobs from jeopardizing their safety, health or educational opportunities.

Since 2015, the department’s Wage and Hour Division has seen increases in child labor investigations and violations. In fiscal year 2021, the division found 2,819 minors employed in violation of the law and assessed employers with nearly $3.4 million in civil money penalties.

Tragically, the division also investigates the deaths of young workers, including three in 2021, and a May 2022 fatality where a 16-year-old worker doing construction fell more than 160 feet to the ground after trying to jump from a roof to a nearby powered lift in Nashville, Tennessee.

“The safety of young workers and significant reductions in child labor violations are top priorities for the U.S. Department of Labor,” said Principal Deputy Wage and Hour Division Administrator Jessica Looman. “Employers who choose to hire young workers have a legal responsibility to know and abide by the federal laws that govern their employment. These obligations include eliminating all exposures to hazardous occupations and prohibited equipment, and preventing young workers from suffering serious injuries or worse.”

“In recent years, we have seen increases in child labor violations, and the Wage and Hour Division is determined to significantly reduce child labor injuries and violations,” Looman added. “We encourage employers, young workers and their parents, and educators to take advantage of our YouthRules! initiative that promotes positive and safe work experiences for young workers.”

In the months leading up to July, when employment of workers between ages 16 and 19 typically peaks, the division has taken strong enforcement actions, including these  examples:

• In Memphis, Tennessee, where a 16-year-old worker sustained a thumb injury and the division found the operator of a Schlotzsky’s restaurant allowed six 16- and 17-year-old workers to clean and operate a deli meat slicer on a daily basis, prohibited by child labor law as a hazardous occupation. The division assessed the employer with $17,818 in civil penalties.
• In Post Falls, Idaho, where a Super 1 Foods store permitted minor employees to operate power-driven trash compactors and box balers. The employer also allowed 14- and 15-year-old workers to work beyond the number of hours federal law permits. The violations led the division to assess $154,831 in civil penalties.
• At three Oregon store locations in The Dalles, Happy Valley and Oregon City, Fred Meyer, a Portland-based subsidiary of Kroger Co. allowed minor-aged workers to regularly load power-driven box balers, for which the division cited the employer in 2007 and 2008 for similar violations. The division assessed $55,440 in civil penalties given the willful nature of the employer’s violations.

These cases illustrate the types of child labor violations most commonly cited by investigators. Since October 2017, five hazardous occupations – as defined by child labor law – accounted for approximately 90 percent of non-agricultural hazardous occupations’ violations and approximately 61 percent of non-agricultural child labor injuries. These hazardous occupations are as follows:

• Driving a motor vehicle or work as an outside helper on motor vehicles.
• Power-driven hoisting apparatus occupations, including the operation of forklifts.
• Occupations that involve power-driven meat-processing machines (including meat slicers and other food slicers), slaughtering and meat packing plants.
• Operating power-driven bakery machines, including vertical dough or batter mixers.
• Power-driven paper-products machine occupations, including the operation of compactors and balers.

To assist businesses that employ child labor, the division recently launched a web site providing Seven Child Labor Best Practices for Employers that focuses on the importance of training, sharing information and using practical tools to identify the hazardous occupations young workers must avoid.

“In 2022, the Wage and Hour Division has worked directly with employers operating well-known fast-food franchises to help them make changes in operations to enhance working conditions for young workers,” Looman explained. “These successes include a South Carolina Bojangles franchisee who used our best practices to make sweeping changes at their 93 locations in six states, and Pennsylvania Wendy’s franchisee whose corrective actions will benefit young workers at 83 restaurants in three states.”

For more information about young workers’ rights and other employee rights enforced by the division, contact the 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 Timesheet App, now available for Android devices, to ensure hours and pay are accurate.

Learn more about the Fair Labor Standards Act’s child labor provisions.