Employer name:           OKC Metro Alliance

                                               operating as Men’s and Women’s Firstep Residential Recovery Program

Investigation site:        1940 Linwood Blvd.

                                               Oklahoma City, OK 73106

Investigation findings: The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division found violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act’s minimum wage and overtime provisions when OKC Metro Alliance placed recovery center residents within their Firstep Programs – a long-term residential drug and alcohol recovery program – in third-party employment and withheld wages – essentially acting as a joint employer. The employer agreed to change its business model to avoid future violations and paid back wages after entering into a compliance and settlement agreement with the department.

Back wages recovered: $100,000 to 491 employees

Quote: “We worked closely with OKC Metro Alliance to help them develop a business model that complies with the law. Similar recovery centers need to pay attention to this case and make sure they comply with labor laws or call us for assistance,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Michael Speer in Oklahoma City. “Our website has an abundance of information about the many laws covered by the Wage and Hour Division. We encourage employers and workers to call us with any questions or complaints.”

Learn more about Wage and Hour Division.

Employer name:        Blue Agave & Brothers

                                     Blue Apache Mexican Restaurant

Investigation site:      905 Savoy Road

                                    Youngsville, LA 70592

Investigation findings: The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division found the employer, Blue Agave & Brothers LLC, denied minimum wage to 38 employees at Blue Apache Mexican Restaurant by diverting tips to one of the owners creating an improper deduction to the servers’ wages and invalidating the employer’s tip credit claim. Blue Apache Mexican Restaurant also paid time and one-half the cash wage rate instead of the full minimum wage for overtime hours, which resulted in employees receiving less than the full half-time premium due for overtime hours worked. Both actions are violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Back wages recovered:         $70,602 in back wages                                                

Quote: “The Wage and Hour Division continues to find and correct violations that are all-too-common for the restaurant industry’s low-wage workers,” said Wage and Hour District Director Troy Mouton in New Orleans. “Many restaurant workers depend on customers’ tips to make ends meet. When their employer deprives them of their hard-earned money, making ends meet becomes even more difficult.

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AUSTIN, TX – The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered $230,353 in back wages for 274 workers employed by a popular central Texas barbecue restaurant operator after an investigation found the employer gave a portion of employee tips to restaurant managers – a practice not allowed by federal law.

Investigators with the department’s Wage and Hour Division found Black’s Barbecue Inc.; Kent Black’s Lockhart Barbecue Inc. and New Braunfels Barbecue LLC – all with the same ownership and operating as Black’s Barbecue restaurant – kept a portion of the employees’ tips and shared them with managers illegally. The Fair Labor Standards Act prohibits employers, managers and supervisors from keeping tips the business’ employees receive for any purposes, whether or not the employer takes a tip credit.

“Food service industry employers must know that tips are the property of tipped employees who earn them, plain and simple,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Nicole Sellers in Austin, Texas. “Workers and their families depend on their rightfully earned wages and benefits. If you take from them, you take from their families. The Wage and Hour Division is committed to safeguarding the rights of all essential food service workers.”

Black’s Barbecue Inc. and Kent Black’s Lockhart Barbecue Inc. has operated for three generations in Texas. In addition to Lockhart, the employer has locations in Austin, New Braunfels and San Marcos.

In fiscal year 2021, the division identified nearly $35 million in back wages owed to more than 29,000 food service industry workers. In its food service investigations, the division commonly finds violations related to employers retaining tips, failing to pay overtime when required and not paying for pre- and post-shift work.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects employment in food preparation and service occupations will grow 20 percent from 2020 to 2030, much faster than the average for all occupations, and gain about 2.3 million jobs. These occupations are among the nation’s lowest paid groups. Employers who ensure their workers are paid their rightful wages and benefits will be best positioned to retain and recruit skilled workers.

Learn more about the Wage and Hour Division, including a search tool to use if you think you may be owed back wages. Workers can call the Wage and Hour Division regardless of immigration status, it is free, confidential and the department can speak with callers in more than 200 languages.

Download the agency’s new Timesheet App for iOS and Android devices to ensure hours and pay are accurate.

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LANSDOWNE, PA – A federal court has ordered a Lansdowne, Pennsylvania, diner, and its owner and a manager to pay more than $1.35 million in back wages and liquidated damages to 107 servers and kitchen workers after a five-day trial confirmed the business operators used an illegal tip pool.

On Aug. 18, 2022, Judge Eduardo C. Robreno in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania found Musluoglu Inc., which operates as Empire Diner; owner Ihsan Gunaydin; and manager Engin Gunaydin liable for $675,626.67 in back wages and an equal amount in damages owed to the affected current and former employees.

The action follows an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division in Philadelphia that determined the employer failed to comply with the tip credit requirements, specifically using servers’ tips to pay bussers’ wages. The division also found the employer violated minimum wage, overtime and recordkeeping provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

The department’s Office of the Solicitor in Philadelphia then filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania against the restaurant and the Gunaydins to recover the back wages and liquidated damages owed. In its ruling, the court found the employer willfully violated the FLSA when it failed to comply with the tip credit requirements and misused the servers’ tips to pay wages. Before that ruling, the court had granted, in part, the Office of the Solicitor’s 2021 motion for summary judgment, and found the employer had violated federal wage and recordkeeping provisions. Specifically, the court agreed the restaurant and the Gunaydins were not entitled to claim employee tips as a credit towards their minimum wage obligation. 

“Tipped workers in the food services industry rely on their hard-earned tips to make ends meet. By diverting a portion of these tips, restaurant employers violate federal labor laws and harm workers and their families,” said Principal Deputy Wage and Hour Administrator Jessica Looman. “This significant and successful litigation demonstrates the Department of Labor’s commitment to protect the nation’s essential workers.”

The latest ruling comes after months of litigation and a bench trial, during which the department’s attorneys established that the employer violated federal law when they did the following:

• Required servers to turn over 10 to 15 percent of their total tips received on any given shift to pay the bussers’ wages.
• Interfered with the investigation by telling employees to lie about the business’ unlawful pay practices.
• Paid straight time to certain kitchen employees for all hours worked, including hours over 40 in a work week.
• Used an improper practice of paying servers time and one-half of their cash wage of $2.83 per hour for hours over 40 in a work week.

In addition to the back wages and liquidated damages, the employer was assessed a $47,620 civil money penalty due to the willful nature of the violations.

“This legal action recovers the workers’ hard-earned wages and sends a strong message to other restaurant employers that violations come at a high cost,​” said Solicitor of Labor Seema Nanda. “The U.S. Department of Labor is prepared to use every tool available, including litigation, to prevent employers from depriving workers of their wages.”

The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that 918,000 food and accommodation services workers left their positions in June 2022. BLS also projects about 41,400 openings for food service managers each year, on average, from 2020 to 2030.

“Retaining and recruiting workers becomes much more difficult in today’s changing job market where workers have choices about where and for whom they work,” Looman explained. “Employers who take advantage of workers by violating their legal rights will find it increasingly difficult to recruit and retain the people they need to fill jobs and stay in business.” 

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 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:                               Crystal Services LLC, operating as Baymont by Wyndham

                                                Golden Services LLC, operating as Roseburg Value Inn

Investigation sites:                610 W Madrone St., Roseburg, OR 97470

                                                511 SE Stephen St., Roseburg OR 97470

Investigation findings:          U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division investigators found the pay practices of Amrik Rai, owner and operator of two Roseburg hotels, violated federal law. Specifically, Rai’s Crystal Services LLC, operator of Baymont by Wyndham, paid one employee a salary that did not meet minimum wage. The employer also failed to pay the worker time and one-half for hours over 40 in a workweek. At the Roseburg Value Inn, Rai’s Golden Services LLC failed to pay one employee all hours worked, another violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

The division investigated this employer in 2013 and twice in 2017. Those three prior investigations recovered $45,633 in back wages and liquidated damages for employees. 

Back Wages Recovered:                   $37,423 in back wages for two employees

                                                            $37,423 in liquidated damages for two employees

Civil Money Penalties Assessed:      $1,542 in penalties                

Quote: “The U.S. Department of Labor will hold accountable employers that take advantage of vulnerable workers,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Carrie Aguilar in Portland, Oregon. “WHD is persistent, follows up after settlements, and will keep working hard to ensure employers come into compliance. Wage theft committed by repeat violators like Amrik Rai will be found and we will make their victims whole.”

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.

Employer name:                      V & R Health Care Services LLC

Investigation site:                  121 E. Magnolia, Suite 103

                                                          Friendswood, TX 77546

Investigation findings: The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division investigation found V&R Health Care Services LLC – a home healthcare provider – paid 55 workers straight time for overtime hours worked and failed to record time worked for employees accurately. V&R Health Care Services provides in-home companionship, caregiving and medical services.

Back wages recovered:         $56,028 in overtime back wages

                                                           $56,028 in liquidated damages

Quote: “The U.S. Department of Labor is committed to ensuring that every employee receives the wages they have rightfully earned. Most workers are required to receive additional half-time pay for hours over 40 in a workweek,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Robin Mallett in Houston, Texas.  “The Wage and Hour Division is available to help workers and employers understand their rights and responsibilities regarding the law. We encourage all employers to review their pay practices and take advantage of the many tools we offer to assist them in understanding the law and avoiding costly penalties and damages for labor violations.”

Employer name:                   Advantage Communications Systems Inc.

Investigation site:                 4219 Montgomery Blvd. NE

                                                         Albuquerque, NM 87109

Investigation findings: The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division found Advantage Communications Systems Inc. paid some workers a flat rate for live-in shifts, and a salary to others. In some cases, the employer allowed workers’ wages to fall below the federal minimum wage of $7.25. Investigators also learned Advantage failed to include bonuses and differential pay when calculating the regular pay rate for overtime purposes. By doing so, the home healthcare company denied overtime premiums to 64 workers. These pay practices violated the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Back wages recovered:         $65,286 in back wages

                                                           $65,286 in liquidated damages

Quote: “Home healthcare workers provide essential care for people in need and often work very long hours as live-in shift workers.  Advantage Communication Systems Inc. paid some workers less than the minimum wage and denied others proper overtime payment as required under the Fair Labor Standards Act,” said Wage and Hour District Director Evelyn Ortiz in Albuquerque, New Mexico. “Many employers are struggling to retain and recruit the employees needed to operate their businesses, while workers are seeing an increase in job openings, and many are choosing new occupations. Ensuring that their workers are paid properly is a fundamental necessity for every employer.”

CHICAGO – After more than two years, a Chicago restaurant owner has finally complied with an administrative subpoena to provide documentation for a U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division investigation. The compliance comes after a federal judge held Wilson Torres, owner of La Bomba Food Restaurant Inc., in contempt and confined him to one night in jail and ordered him to pay $40,500 in fines.

On May 4, 2020, the department’s Office of the Solicitor filed a request with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division, seeking to enforce the administrative subpoena the department issued as part of its wage and hour investigation of La Bomba Restaurant. During the next two years, La Bomba and Torres failed to comply with the subpoena repeatedly. Torres paid the department $2,975 in attorney’s fees in March 2022 after the department filed a contempt motion to enforce the subpoena. The owner’s lack of action prompted U.S. District Court Judge Martha Pacold to impose fines for contempt of court and the brief imprisonment on June 15, 2022.

In a status hearing on Aug. 23, 2022, the department reported that La Bomba and Torres had complied with producing most of the necessary documents. On Aug. 31, 2022, the department and La Bomba filed a joint stipulation of dismissal with the judge, after the Wage and Hour Division received the necessary documents to conduct its investigation.

“By enforcing the Department of Labor’s subpoena and holding a non-compliant owner in contempt, the federal courts have upheld that the Department of Labor has broad investigative authority under the Fair Labor Standards Act for record audits and on-site inspections to ensure compliance with wage and hour laws,” said Regional Solicitor of Labor Christine Heri in Chicago.

The Wage and Hour Division will now complete its investigation of La Bomba with the records received.

“We make no assumptions that we will find violations in La Bomba’s payroll records, but La Bomba and its owner Wilson Torres are required to comply with the law and allow such an investigation to be completed,” said Wage and Hour District Director Thomas Gauza in Chicago. “The Wage and Hour Division is committed to ensuring all employees receive their rightfully earned wages.”

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 devices to ensure hours and pay are accurate.

Walsh v. La Bomba Food Restaurant Inc.

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

Civil Action No.: 22-cv-02678

Employer:                                          Done-Rite Tree Company Inc.

Investigation sites:                            8184 Stewart Road, Meridian, ID 83642

Investigation findings:                      U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division investigators found Done-Rite Tree Co. denied overtime wages to 39 workers by not paying time and one-half for hours over 40 in a workweek, as required by the Fair Labor Standards Act. The company also allowed two 17-year-old workers to regularly load and operate a power-driven woodchipper, a hazardous occupation for minors under the FLSA and an activity that has claimed the lives of several young workers in recent years, including a 17-year-old in Pennsylvania, who recently suffered a tragic death while operating a woodchipper.  

Back Wages/Damages Recovered:  $39,711 in back wages for 39 employees

                                                            $39,711 in liquidated damages for 39 employees

Civil Money Penalties Assessed:      $10,747 in penalties              

Quote: “The U.S. Department of Labor is committed to ensure employees receive all of the wages they have earned, including overtime,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Carrie Aguilar in Portland, Oregon. “It is also critical to ensure the safety and well-being of young workers. The operation of the woodchipper by minors could have ended in tragedies had we not intervened. We urge employers to visit our Youthrules.gov website to learn how to protect young workers and promote positive and safe work experiences for teens.”

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.

Employer name:        Raymond’s Painting Co.

Investigation Site:     904 Hikina Lane

                                             Honolulu, HI 96817

Investigation findings: Investigators with the U.S. Department of Labor found Raymond’s Painting Company Inc. – doing business as Raymond’s Painting Co. – didn’t treat pre-shift activities by its employees as on-the-clock work, resulting in violations of the overtime provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act. The employer incurred a record keeping violation of the act when it didn’t properly document and maintain its employment records.

Penalties:       $42,060 in overtime back wages for 44 workers.

                             $42,060 in liquidated damages for 44 workers.

                             $10,000 in civil money penalties for willful and reckless disregard of the FLSA.

Quote: “Overtime earned should be overtime paid,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Terence Trotter in Honolulu. “Not counting work performed before or after a scheduled shift misrepresents the workers total weekly hours worked and leads to the underpayment of wages, including lawfully entitled overtime pay.”

The agency encourages workers who think they may be owed back wages as a result of these or other federal investigations to use the Workers Owed Wages search tool or contact the Honolulu Regional Office at (808) 541-1361. Learn more about the Wage and Hour 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 to ensure hours and pay are accurate.

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