BIRMINGHAM, AL – The U.S. Department of Labor recovered $62,568 in back wages and liquidated damages for 22 current and former cashiers of two Alabama gas stations whose operator denied them their full wages by paying them overtime at rates lower than the law requires.

Investigators with the department’s Wage and Hour Division found that Kwik Shop Stores Inc. failed to compute correct overtime rates and pay full overtime wages due at its locations in Wetumpka and Montgomery. The employer did not include bonuses paid in the calculation of the overtime rates of pay. By doing so, the Kwik Stop Stores underpaid employees. The employer also failed to accurately record employee’s hours of work. These practices resulted in violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

In addition to the recovery of back wages and damages, the division assessed Kwik Stop $8,228 in civil money penalties for the nature of the violations.

“Business owners who deny their workers their full wages make it harder for these workers and their families to make ends meet,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Kenneth Stripling in Birmingham, Alabama. “With job openings remaining at near record levels across the nation, employers are working harder to retain and recruit workers they need to help their businesses succeed. Those who fulfill their obligation and honor workers’ rights to full wages and benefits will have an advantage over employers who fail to do so.”

In fiscal year 2021, the Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that the median hourly wage for cashiers in the gasoline industry – one that usually requires employees to work weekends, holidays and overnight shifts – was only $11.24 an hour.  

BLS also projects more than 1.1 million job openings in the retail trade industry, creating an even more competitive labor market.

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.

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.

CENTER, TX – A federal investigation recovered $247,334 in back wages and liquidated damages for 15 workers of a Texas oil pipeline construction company whose pay practices denied them their full wages, including overtime. The workers were employed at the company’s Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas job sites.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division found J&J Raymond Construction LLC paid employees a set day rate and did not pay overtime for hours over 40 in a workweek. Investigators also determined the employer failed to include non-discretionary bonuses when computing the regular rate of pay  and did not maintain accurate records as the Fair Labor Standards Act requires.

The division’s findings led to the recovery of $123,667 in back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages to the affected workers.

“Paying an employee a day rate does not mean the employer is no longer legally obligated to pay overtime wages,” explained Wage and Hour Division District Director Robin Mallett in Houston. “Regardless of whether workers are paid by the hour, the piece, the day or on a salary basis, overtime rules still apply. Violations like those found in this case are avoidable. Employers and workers are encouraged to contact the Wage and Hour Division to understand legal rights and responsibilities.”

In fiscal year 2021, the division identified more than $36 million in back wages owed to about 21,000 construction industry workers. In its investigations, the division commonly finds violations related to employers failing to pay overtime when required, misclassifying workers as independent contractors, and not paying them for time spent on work-related travel, or pre- and post-shift work.

With the Bureau of Labor Statistics projecting construction industry employment to grow at a rate of 6 percent by 2030, with a gain of approximately 400,000 jobs, employers who ensure their workers are paid their rightful wages and benefits will be better positioned to retain and recruit skilled workers.

Based in Center, J&J Raymond Construction LLC specializes in oil pipeline construction and has job sites in Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas.

Learn more about the Wage and Hour Division, including a search tool to use if you think you may be owed back wages collected by the division. The department can speak with callers in more than 200 languages through the agency’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243).

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PITTSBURGH – A Pittsburgh restaurant and distillery used its tip pool improperly – requiring servers to share tips with managers and supervisors– in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act, a federal investigation has found.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division determined that Pittsburgh Distilling Co., doing business as Wigle Whiskey, violated FLSA rules that prevent managers from retaining tips received by tipped workers. The employer also shortchanged tipped employees of the overtime wages they were legally due. Investigators found Wigle Whiskey calculated the tipped employee overtime rate based on their cash wage of $4 per hour instead of the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour, as federal law requires. The employer also underpaid managers for overtime hours when they failed to include wages received by managers from the improper tip pool in overtime calculations. These practices violated the FLSA’s overtime regulations.

The investigation led to the division’s recovery of $38,951 for 41 workers.

“Food service workers rely on their hard-earned tips to make ends meet. Restaurant employers must understand that keeping workers’ tips or diverting a portion of these tips to managers or supervisors in a tip pool is illegal,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director John DuMont in Pittsburgh. “As restaurants struggle to fill the positions they need to keep their doors open, those who deny workers their rightful wages are likely to find it more difficult to retain and recruit workers than those employers who abide by the law.”

The FLSA allows employers to pay tipped workers as little as $2.13 per hour in direct wages, while taking a credit against the tips earned by the employee to make up remainder of the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. The employer must notify tipped employees of any required tip pool contribution amount, and the FLSA prohibits employers, managers and supervisors from participating in the tip pool and keeping any portion of workers’ tips. An employer may only take a tip credit for the amount of tips actually received by each tipped employee.

In fiscal year 2021, the Wage and Hour Division conducted more than 4,200 investigations of food services establishments, recovering more than $34 million in back wages for more than 29,000 workers nationwide. The division offers a compliance assistance toolkit for restaurant employers.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that there were more than 1.3 million job openings in the accommodation and food services industry and that 740,000 industry workers quit their jobs in April 2022.

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 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).

Employer name:                    Valley Veterinary Associates, 647 State Highway 7, Unadilla, New York 13849

Investigation findings:          The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division found the employer “banked” hours worked over 40 in a workweek by employees instead of paying them at time-and-a-half their regular pay rate, then paid them for these hours at straight time in non-overtime workweeks. The company also failed to keep accurate records of hours worked and rates of compensation for overtime work weeks, all of which violated the Fair Labor Standards Act’s overtime and recordkeeping requirements.

Back Wages Paid:                 $90,869.96: $45,434.98 in back wages plus an equal amount in liquidated damages to 39 employees.

Quote:                                     “Employers are responsible for paying all employees correctly for all the hours they work; failure to do so deprives workers of their hard-earned wages. The U.S. Department of Labor provides numerous tools to help employers comply with the law, and we encourage employers and employees alike to contact us for assistance,” said Wage and Hour Division Assistant District Director John Steves in Syracuse, New York.

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 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.

Learn more about Wage and Hour Division.

Employer name:                      Sandpiper Autobody                                               

Investigation site:                  470 W. State St.

                                                          Pleasant Grove, UT 84062

Investigation findings: The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division found Sandpiper Autobody in Pleasant Grove misclassified 13 technicians as independent contractors, and failed to pay the overtime wages as required by the overtime provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act. The employer also failed to keep accurate employee pay and time records, another FLSA violation.

Back wages recovered:         $47,175 in back wages to 13 workers                                               

Quote: “Illegally paying an employee as an independent contractor strips them of the worker protections and benefits they are due. By doing so, the employer reduces a misclassified worker’s pay, and denies the worker’s health insurance, worker’s compensation and unemployment insurance. The employee is also burdened by the responsibility of paying employer tax,” explained the Wage and Hour Division’s District Director Kevin Hunt in Salt Lake City. “And in the long run, misclassification may reduce the Social Security benefit the employee receives in retirement.”

Employer name:                    Envirotech Mechanical Systems LLC                                                                                         

Investigation site:                 270 Lake Meadows Drive

                                                         Montgomery, TX  77316

Investigation findings: The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division found Envirotech Mechanical Systems LLC – a heating, ventilation and air conditioning contractor in Montgomery – failed to pay air conditioning repair technicians the overtime premium at one and one-half the regular rate of pay for hours over 40 in workweek as the Fair Labor Standards Act requires.

Back wages recovered:         $61,591 in back wages to 79 employees                                         

Quote: “By not paying the proper overtime, this employer denied employees their hard-earned wages,” explained the Wage and Hour Division’s District Director Robin Mallett in Houston. “The law requires employers to pay workers all of their rightful wages, including overtime pay for hours over 40 in a workweek.  Employers who fail to pay workers legally gain an unfair competitive advantage over those employers who abide by the law.”

Background:  In fiscal year 2021, the Wage and Hour Division recovered more than $36 million for more than 21,000 construction industry workers. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that more than 242,000 industry workers quit their jobs in March 2022, matching the all-time high in November 2005. As job openings and employment levels continue to increase, employers whose pay practices violate federal law will likely find it more difficult to recruit and retain workers, than employers who pay their workers their rightful wages and benefits.

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Employer:                                        

A&G Auto Service and Repair Inc.

operating as Magic Wheels Auto World Inc.

15252 Spring Hill Drive, Brooksville, FL  34604

Investigation findings: U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division investigators found A&G Auto Service and Repair Inc. paid a salary for all hours employees worked and did not pay the required half-time for overtime hours worked. The employer also misapplied overtime exemptions for two supervisors who failed to meet the criteria for an exemption. Additionally, the division found the employer misclassified three individuals as independent contractors and paid them on a salary basis as well, failing to pay them for overtime hours worked, all Fair Labor Standards Act violations.  

Back wages and liquidated damages recovered:   $72,174 for 12 employees.

Quote: “As employers struggle to find the people they need to operate their businesses successfully, retaining and recruiting workers will be more difficult for employers who violate workers’ rights to be paid their full wages and benefits,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Nicolas Ratmiroff in Tampa, Florida. “In fiscal year 2021, the division recovered more than $4.3 million in back wages for more than 3,500 workers in the auto repair industry where we too often find employers in violation of the law. We encourage others to review their pay practices or risk losing the workers they need to keep their shops running.”

Background: 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. 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.

GUAYNABO, PR – A federal judge has ordered two San Juan restaurants and their owners to pay a total of $31,630 to 19 workers after the owners withheld back wages they assured the U.S. Department of Labor they would pay the employees after an investigation found their pay practices violated federal law.

The consent judgment – entered in the U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico – follows litigation by the department’s Office of the Solicitor and an investigation by its Wage and Hour Division that began after investigators identified Fair Labor Standards Act violations by Patricio’s Restaurant Inc., doing business as Jose Jose Restaurant, and El Catador D’Abreu Inc., doing business as El Catador D’Abreu Restaurant, and owners Jose Abreu Ramirez and Milagros De Los Santos Gomez.

During the investigation, the division found the employers paid some of their cooks and waiters a set salary each week regardless of how many hours they worked and required some employees to buy and maintain their uniforms, which caused minimum wage and overtime violations. In addition, the employers failed to maintain records of their employees’ wages and work hours, as the law requires. At the close of the investigation, Abreu signed back wage compliance and payment agreements on behalf of both restaurants in which the corporations agreed to comply with the FLSA and pay back wages the division found due in its investigation.  

Despite such agreements, several employees later reported to the division that Abreu and De Los Santos directed them to endorse the back wage checks and sign documents representing they had received the back wages due to them when, in fact, they had never received any back wages. Instead, the employers kept the checks, in violation of the FLSA. As a result of this conduct, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Puerto Rico filed criminal charges in the matter. Abreu plead guilty to eight counts of falsifying, concealing, or covering up a material fact by trick, scheme or device, and was ordered to pay $13,137 in restitution to six employees.

“Workers have the right to request payment of their hard-earned wages without fear of retaliation and discrimination for cooperating fully with a U.S. Department of Labor investigation,” explained Wage and Hour District Director Jose R. Vazquez-Fernandez in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico. “The Fair Labor Standards Act provides essential worker protections to ensure they are paid their rightful wages. Workers who believe their rights have been violated should contact the Wage and Hour Division with their concerns.”

In addition to back wages and liquidated damages, the consent judgment obtained by the department permanently enjoins the defendants from future FLSA minimum wage, overtime, recordkeeping and retaliation violations, including discharging or retaliating against any employee who exercises their rights under the FLSA. It also prohibits them from discouraging workers from cooperating with federal investigators and requires the defendants to provide employees with written notice of their FLSA rights.

Read the Consent Judgment.  

“Employers and workers alike should know that the U.S. Department of Labor will take appropriate legal action when employers shortchange employees of their wages, threaten or discriminate against employees, or otherwise disregard the Fair Labor Standards Act’s requirements,” said Regional Solicitor of Labor Jeffrey S. Rogoff in New York.

The Wage and Hour Division’s Caribbean District Office conducted the original investigation. Senior Trial Attorney Allison L. Bowles from the New York Regional Solicitor’s Office litigated the case.

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.

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.

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LAS VEGAS – A recent federal investigation has found that a Reno landscaping company – that employs workers exposed to the outdoors, including on summer days when temperatures can peak at 90 degrees – intentionally shortchanged 57 of its workers by denying them overtime wages they were owed.

U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division investigators determined that H&H Landscape LLC violated the Fair Labor Standards Act by paying the affected workers their regular hourly pay rates in cash for hours over 40 in a workweek, and did not record all hours worked in its pay records, also an FLSA violation.

The investigation led the division to recover $88,957 in overtime back wages for the affected employees, and to assess H&H Landscape $29,640 in civil money penalties for its willful recordkeeping violations.

“Landscaping work is hard, harder still when temperatures soar. H&H Landscape’s employees have the right to be paid all the wages they’ve earned and their employer has a legal obligation to pay them,” said Wage and Hour Division Assistant District Director Sylvia Argueta in Las Vegas. “The U.S. Department of Labor found that H&H Landscaping shortchanged nearly 60 workers of wages they depend on to care for themselves and their families and willfully failed to record all of the hours worked in an attempt to avoid paying overtime.”

In fiscal year 2021, the Wage and Hour Division recovered more than $1.2 million for more than 1,000 people employed in the landscaping services industry, among the division’s low-wage, high violations. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects demand for grounds maintenance workers to grow 8 percent by 2030 and about 173,200 job openings each year, on average.

“In addition to denying workers their full wages, employers who violate federal labor laws also gain an unfair competitive advantage over those who abide by the law,” Argueta added. “Employers are struggling these days to fill the positions they need to operate their businesses which gives law-abiding employers a better chance to retain and recruit the people they need.”

The Wage and Hour Division has a number of resources online for workers and employers, including an FLSA compliance toolkit. 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. Contact the agency’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243) with questions about worker rights and employer responsibilities. Calls can be addressed in over 200 languages, regardless of immigration status.

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SEATTLE – A U.S. Department of Labor investigation that uncovered a farm labor contractor’s already costly failures to protect migrant and seasonal agricultural workers took an unexpected turn when investigators found the same employer had denied 165 farm laborers more than $80,000 in overtime wages for hours spent cleaning the popular Gorge Amphitheater.

Investigators with the department’s Wage and Hour Division found Espinoza Contractor LLC – owned by Guillermo Espinoza – violated the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act when they did not pay 49 workers their wages when due, failed to disclose working conditions to the migrant workers in writing and did not record transportation fees deducted from workers’ pay accurately. Espinoza also transported workers without authorization and failed to ensure drivers who transported workers had required documents. The employer also did not register as farm labor contractor or register the workers as required.

Part of the division’s nationwide enforcement and outreach initiative to protect agricultural workers’ rights, the investigation led the division to assess Espinoza $61,896 in civil penalties.

During its investigation, the division learned Espinoza Contractor LLC was under contract to provide farm laborers to clean the Gorge Amphitheater in George. Investigators determined that the employer failed to pay 165 workers, some who worked up to 90 hours each week, overtime rates for hours over 40 in a workweek, a Fair Labor Standards Act violation.

The investigation into the unpaid wages led the division to recover $83,298 in back wages for the affected underpaid workers.

“Our investigation found that Espinoza Contractor LLC failed to meet its legal obligations to its workers to provide them safe transportation in an industry with a history of farmworkers being hurt or killed while being transported, and, failed to pay them their rightful wages as farmworkers and cleaning workers at the Gorge Amphitheater,” explained Wage and Hour Division District Director Thomas Silva in Seattle. “This case is an egregious example of how scofflaws, such as Espinoza, take advantage of some of our economy’s most vulnerable workers, The U.S. Department of Labor will hold such violators accountable and is committed in protecting and defending workers’ rights.”

In fiscal year 2021, the division recovered more than $8.4 million for more than 10,000 agricultural industry workers, which the department ranks 5th on its list of 15 low-wage, high violation industries, based on back wages recovered.

Based in Othello, Espinoza Contractor LLC is a farm and general labor contractor that has provided hundreds of workers to 185 clients over the last three years.

The division enforces the law regardless of a worker’s immigration status and can speak confidentially with callers in more than 200 languages. For more information about the FLSA and other laws enforced by the division, 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.

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