MANCHESTER, NH – Un tribunal federal emitió una orden de consentimiento contra la empresa de jardinería y paisajismo en Salem que opera en el sur de New Hampshire y noreste de Massachusetts. La orden requiere que el empleador page un total de $283,020 - $141,510, en sueldos atrasados y una cantidad igual en daños y perjuicios – a 19 trabajadores para resolver las violaciones de los requisitos del sobretiempo de La Ley de Normas Justas de Trabajo (FLSA-siglas en inglés)

Los investigadores de la División de Horas y Salarios del Departamento de Trabajo de los EE.UU. descubrieron que Belko Landscaping LLC, no pagó el sobretiempo por las horas trabajadas después de 40 en una semana laboral a algunos empleados. En cambio, el empleador pago a los trabajadores tarifas de tiempo regulares por las horas trabajadas de sobretiempo. Belko tampoco registró con precisión las horas de trabajo de algunos trabajadores.  

Belko Landscaping LLC y su presidente, John Belko, también pagaron $14,231 en multas monetarias civiles debido a la naturaleza deliberada de las violaciones.

“Pagar tarifas regulares por el sobretiempo trabajado es quitarles a los trabajadores los salarios que tanto les costó ganar y que necesitan para pagar sus obligaciones mensuales; además de que están violando La Ley de Normas Justas de Trabajo” dijo el Director del Distrito de la División de Horas y Salarios Steven McKinney en Manchester, New Hampshire. “Desafortunadamente, este tipo de violaciones son comunes en la industria de servicios de paisajismo y jardinería.  Animamos a los empleadores a que se comuniquen con la División de Horas y Salarios para preguntar acerca de sus responsabilidades, y a los trabajadores a que se comuniquen con la agencia si tienen preguntas sobre sus derechos.”

“Como demuestra este caso, el costo de violar la ley puede ser alto para los empleadores que deliberadamente niegan a los trabajadores los sueldos que han ganado. En casos como este, el departamento buscará responsabilizar a los empleadores para que paguen a sus trabajadores los salarios que le deben y también una cantidad igual por indemnización en daños y perjuicios, porque los empleados no han hecho uso de sus salarios duramente ganados por un período de tiempo,” dijo la Procuradora Regional del Trabajo, Maia Fisher en Boston.

En su sentencia por consentimiento, el tribunal de Distrito de los Estados Unidos para el Distrito de New Hampshire exige el pago de los salarios y daños, y prohíbe a la empresa y a su propietario futuras violaciones de los requisitos sobre el salario mínimo, el pago de sobretiempo, mantenimiento de registros y leyes contra represalias de la FLSA.  También les exige que proporcione a los empleados actuales y futuros información sobre los requisitos de sobretiempo de la FLSA en Inglés y en Español.  

Vea la denuncia y sentencia de consentimiento.

En el año fiscal 2021, más de 280 investigaciones de la División de Horas y Salarios recuperaron $1.2 millones para más de 1,000 trabajadores en la industria de servicios de jardinería y paisajismo.   

La Oficina del Distrito del Norte de New England de la División en Manchester llevó a cabo la investigación. La Oficina Regional del Procurador del Departamento en Boston presentó la denuncia y sentencia de consentimiento en el caso.

Para recibir más información sobre las leyes en vigor aplicadas por la División, póngase en contacto con la línea de ayuda gratuita de la agencia al 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Los trabajadores pueden llamar a la División de Horas y Salarios de manera confidencial si tienen preguntas - independientemente de su estado migratorio - y el departamento puede hablar con quién llame en más de 200 idiomas.

La División de Horas y Salarios tiene una serie de recursos en línea para trabajadores y empleadores, incluido un conjunto de herramientas de cumplimiento de la FLSA. Obtenga más información sobre la División de Horas y Salarios, incluida una herramienta de búsqueda que puede utilizar si cree que se le debe salarios atrasado que fueron colectados por la División.

 Read the news release in English.

Employer: El Guerrero Mexican Grill Inc.

Investigation site: 9727 66th St. N., Pinellas Park, FL 33781

Investigation findings:  U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division investigators found the employer paid two servers less than the cash wage required by law and made illegal deductions from tips, both violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act. The violations caused the employer to lose the tip credit which resulted in additional minimum wage violations. El Guerrero also failed to compensate the two servers for hours worked over 40 in a workweek. In addition, the employer paid some kitchen staff a salary for all hours worked, failing to pay the required overtime rates when they worked more than 40 hours in the workweek.

Back Wages Recovered: $38,755 in back wages for six workers.

Quote: “When employers take a tip credit toward the payment of wages for their employees, they must adhere to all requirements of the law. Failing to do so can result in a costly lesson,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Nicolas Ratmiroff in Tampa, Florida. “Employers who fail to realize this and continue to pay workers less that they have earned can quickly find themselves struggling to maintain the workforce needed to stay in business.” 

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.

YUMA, AZ – A federal investigation that found the franchise operator of seven Yuma McDonald’s locations denied full wages owed to 332 workers has recovered $128,796 in back wages and liquidated damages for them.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division determined that Jose Leon – the Calexico, California-based franchise owner and operator – violated the Fair Labor Standards Act’s overtime requirements when he failed to pay time-and-one-half an employee’s required rate of pay for hours over 40 in a workweek. Following its investigation, the employer paid $62,238 in overtime back wages and $62,238 in liquidated damages to the affected workers.

The division also found Leon violated federal minimum wage requirements when he failed to pay some employees for all the hours they worked. The violation led to the recovery of an additional $2,160 in back wages and an equal amount in damages for eight workers.  

The department assessed Leon $20,263 in civil money penalties for the nature of the violations.

“The investigation shows the costly consequences faced by an employer whose pay practices failed to comply with federal overtime and minimum wage requirements,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Eric Murray in Phoenix. “Employers should review their pay practices and contact the Wage and Hour Division with any questions or concerns to avoid similar circumstances.”

In more than 4,200 investigations in fiscal year 2021, the Wage and Hour Division recovered more than $34.7 million in back wages for nearly 30,000 food service workers. In March 2022, the Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates approximately 810,000 workers quit their jobs and more than 1.4 million job openings existed in the accommodations and food services industry.

“As restaurant industry employers continue to struggle to recruit employees, those who deny their workers their full wages will likely struggle to find and retain the workers they need to operate their businesses,” Murray added.

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.

Lea en Español

Employer:                              Sewer Viewer Inc.

Investigation site:                 2190 Andrea Lane, Fort Myers, FL 33912

Investigation findings: U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division investigators found the employer – a pipe cleaning and inspection contractor – failed to include non-discretionary production bonuses into the regular rate of pay when computing an overtime rate for employees who worked more than 40 hours in a workweek, a Fair Labor Standards Act violation. As a result, the employer paid overtime at rates lower than required by law.

Back Wages Recovered:       $25,170 in back wages for 12 workers.                                  

Quote: “Employers who supplement wages of employees with bonuses, commissions and piece-rate wages must still adhere to the required overtime requirements,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Nicolas Ratmiroff in Tampa, Florida. “Employers who fail to realize this and continue to pay workers less that they have earned can quickly find themselves struggling to maintain the workforce needed to stay in business.”

Background: Employers and workers alike 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.

MANCHESTER, NH – A federal court has entered a consent order against a Salem landscaping contractor, operating in southern New Hampshire and northeastern Massachusetts, which requires the New Hampshire-based contractor to pay a total of $283,020 – $141,510 in back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages – to 19 workers to resolve violations of the overtime requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division investigators found Belko Landscaping LLC failed to pay some employees one and one-half times their required rates of pay for hours over 40 in a workweek. Instead, the employer paid workers straight-time rates for overtime hours worked. Belko also failed to record work hours for some workers accurately.

Belko Landscaping LLC and its president, John Belko, also paid $14,231 in civil money penalties due to the willful nature of the violations.

“Paying straight-time rates for overtime hours worked shortchanges workers of the hard-earned wages they need to make ends meet, and violates the Fair Labor Standards Act,” said Wage and Hour District Director Steven McKinney in Manchester, New Hampshire. “Unfortunately, these types of violations are common in the landscaping services industry. We encourage employers to contact the Wage and Hour Division about their responsibilities and workers to contact the agency with questions about their rights.”

“As this case shows, the cost of violating the law can be high for employers who willfully deny workers the wages they have earned. In cases such as this, the department will seek to hold employers accountable for paying their workers the wages they owe them and seek an equal amount in liquidated damages because the employees have been without use of their hard-earned wages for a period of time,” said Regional Solicitor of Labor Maia Fisher in Boston.

In its consent judgment, the U.S. District Court for the District of New Hampshire requires the payment of the wages and damages, and enjoins the business and its owner from future violations of the FLSA’s minimum wage, overtime, recordkeeping and anti-retaliation provisions. It also requires them to provide current and future employees with information on the FLSA’s overtime requirements in English and Spanish.

View the complaint and consent judgment.

In fiscal year 2021, more than 280 Wage and Hour Division investigations recovered $1.2 million for more than 1,000 workers in the landscaping services industry.   

The division’s Northern New England District Office in Manchester conducted the investigation. The department’s Boston Regional Office of the Solicitor filed the complaint and consent judgment in the case.

For information about laws enforced by the division, contact the agency’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Workers can call the Wage and Hour Division confidentially with questions, regardless of immigration status, and the department can speak with callers in more than 200 languages.

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.

Walsh v. Belko Landscaping LLC d/b/a Belko Landscaping and John Belko

Civil Action No. 22-00158

Lea el comunicado de prensa en español.

Employer name:                    Antonio’s Mexican Restaurant Weatherford Inc.

                                                        (operating as Antonio’s Homestyle Cooking)

Investigation site:                  1900 Santa Fe Drive

                                                         Weatherford, TX 76086

Investigation findings: The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division found Antonio’s Homestyle Cooking in Weatherford claimed a tip credit, but did not pay at least the required $2.13 per hour for all hours worked by the restaurant’s servers. Specifically, the employer did not pay for any hours over 40 in a workweek, in violation of the minimum wage and overtime provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act. The employer also failed to keep accurate employee time records, another FLSA violation.

Back wages recovered:         $41,279 in back wages to five workers                                             

Quote: “Denying wages rightfully earned by workers in this low-wage industry is wage theft, plain and simple,” explained the Wage and Hour District Director Jesus A. Valdez in Dallas. “Compliance issues like these are all-too-common in the food service industry, and industry employers should review their legal obligations carefully to avoid the negative consequences that violations found in a U.S. Department of Labor investigation can cause.”

HONOLULU – A federal investigation has recovered $33,399 in back wages and liquidated damages for 14 underpaid workers of an Oahu tour operator who denied crew members on a company tour boat their overtime wages.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division determined that Ocean Journeys LLC – operating as And You Creations – failed to pay the required overtime pay rates for hours over 40 in a work week, a violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Investigators found the employer paid crew members on its Waianae tour boat partial overtime hours at time and one-half their rate of pay and paid the remaining wages at straight time which they then listed as ‘bonus’ payments on company payroll records. The division also found Ocean Journeys failed to include incentive bonuses or commissions in the rates of pay when calculating overtime pay due.

In addition to back wages and damages, the department assessed Ocean Journeys $2,618 in penalties for the willful nature of the violations.

“Overtime wages earned should be overtime wages paid,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Terence Trotter in Honolulu. “Employers cannot manipulate or attempt to hide hours worked in an effort to avoid their obligation to pay earned overtime lawfully.”

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that Honolulu saw its unemployment rate drop from 5.3 to 3.2 percent from March 2021 to March 2022, making it more difficult for employers to recruit and retain workers who can make choices about the employers for whom they work.

“With Honolulu’s low unemployment rate, employers who fail to meet their legal obligations to their workers are competing with employers who pay workers their rightful wages,” Trotter explained. “In addition to the costly consequences of back wages and damages, employers whose pay practices violate the law will find it difficult to fill vacancies with the people needed to do the work that makes their company successful.”

Employers and workers can call the division confidentially with questions regardless of their immigration status. The department can speak with callers in more than 200 languages through the agency’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). 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.

SAN FRANCISCO – The U.S. Department of Labor will hold an online listening session for West Coast employees, employers and other stakeholders on June 3, 2022, on possible revisions to the regulations that enforce the Fair Labor Standards Act’s minimum wage and overtime exemptions for executive, administrative and professional employees.

Since 1938, federal overtime regulations have been a cornerstone of the laws the department’s Wage and Hour Division enforces. These regulations protect workers and benefit workers and their families, their employers and the community at-large. The FLSA requires employers to pay most U.S. employees 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 hours worked over 40 in a workweek. 

The law provides a minimum wage and overtime pay exemption for workers employed as “bona fide” executive, administrative or professional employees. Generally, employees must meet certain tests regarding their job duties and be paid on a salary basis at not less than $684 per week to be exempt.

“Our goal is to use these sessions to listen, engage the public and hear their perspectives on the possible impact of changes to the regulations,” explained Acting Wage and Hour Division Administrator Jessica Looman. “In today’s competitive labor market, job quality and fair pay are critical to retaining and recruiting the people needed to keep businesses open.”

“Industry demands and the challenges employers face are an important part of any discussion on regulatory change. We want to hear from industry leaders and employers,” Looman added.

The division announced that it will hold a listening session for employers and industry stakeholders as follows:

WHO:                         Employers, employer representatives, employer associations

WHEN:                      Friday, June 3, 2022, 12:30-1:30 p.m. PDT

WHERE:                    Register for the listening session.

BIRMINGHAM, AL – Two Birmingham delivery companies, employed by FedEx Corp. as subcontractors, shortchanged 235 workers after wrongly claiming the workers were not entitled to overtime pay under motor carrier regulations, a U.S. Department of Labor investigation has found.

The department’s Wage and Hour Division determined Steel City Couriers Inc. and Cahaba Valley Couriers Inc. paid workers straight time for all hours or a flat weekly rate without overtime compensation. They also failed to maintain accurate records of hours worked. These practices violated the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Division investigators found employers misapplied an FLSA exemption from overtime requirements when workers duties involve driving on interstate highways, operating delivery trucks weighing at least 10,000 pounds, or when working for an employer who falls under the regulations governed by the U.S. Department of Transportation.

The investigation led to the recovery of $181,379 in back wages for 235 workers.

“Misapplying overtime rules deprives workers of their legal right to be paid time-and-a-half for hours over 40 in a workweek,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Kenneth Stripling in Birmingham, Alabama. “Employers who ignore their obligations and violate workers’ rights can find their mistakes costly and their ability to recruit and retain the people they need to run a successful business difficult, if not impossible.”

“Violations like this could have been avoided by contacting the Wage and Hour Division, whose staff can help employers understand their responsibilities under the law,” Stripling added.

The division offers multiple compliance assistance resources, including a fact sheet on the FLSA’s motor carrier exemption to provide employers the information they need to comply with the law.

Employer:                              Super King Buffet Inc.

Investigation site:                 4591 Hardy St., Hattiesburg, MS 39402

Investigation findings: U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division investigators found the employer paid some kitchen employees a monthly salary that allowed their average hourly pay to fall below federal minimum wage requirements, and violate the Fair Labor Standards Act. The employer also failed to provide evidence that it paid two servers their cash wage, which invalidated the claimed tip credit.

Back Wages Recovered:       $168,864 in back wages and liquidated damages for 17 workers.                                               

Quote: “Paying a worker a monthly salary does not relieve an employer from their obligation to pay their workers at least the federal minimum wage or overtime premiums, should those apply,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Audrey Hall in Jackson, Mississippi. “This violation is all-too-common in the restaurant industry and that must stop. Agreements with workers that violate pay practices governed by the Fair Labor Standards Act are illegal schemes.”

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.