Employer: Señor Frog’s Orlando LLC

Investigation site: 8747 International Drive, Orlando, FL 32819

Investigation findings: The employer paid straight-time rates for overtime hours – recorded on payroll as bonuses. By doing so, the employer paid overtime at rates lower than the law requires. Señor Frog’s also kept inaccurate pay records, another Fair Labor Standards Act violation.

Back Wages and Liquidated Damages Recovered: $71,262 in back wages and an equal amount in damages for 91 workers.

Quote: “The Wage and Hour Division too often finds violations by restaurant industry employers,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Wildalí De Jesús in Orlando, Florida. “Employers are required to pay workers their rightful wages by law. As businesses struggle to find people needed to succeed, those who deny workers full wages will find it hard to retain and recruit workers. Wage and Hour Division representatives urge employers to contact the agency to get the information they need and resolve compliance concerns.”

Background: The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division mission is to ensure employers pay workers their rightful wages and honor protections afforded them by law. Employers can get more information about their responsibilities online, including a fact sheet that outlines how business can apply Fair Labor Standards Act wage laws for employees of restaurants and fast-food businesses. Learn more about Wage and Hour Division.

OKLAHOMA CITY – The operator of seven Oklahoma City-area taco shop franchises claimed that workers requested higher hourly wages rather than being paid overtime for hours over 40 in a workweek – an illegal agreement whether the workers consented or not – and as a recent U.S. Department of Labor investigation shows, is a costly error by the employer.

Investigators with the department’s Wage and Hour Division determined Tavern Ventures LLC paid 164 workers at seven Fuzzy’s Taco Shop locations straight-time rates when they worked overtime hours, instead of time and one-half their regular rate of pay. The actions by the Oklahoma City-based employer violated the overtime requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

The division recovered $348,007 in back wages for the affected workers. The investigation is part of the Wage and Hour Division’s Cross-Regional Food Service Workers initiative in the Southwest Region.

“Employers cannot enter into agreements with workers that violate pay practices governed by the Fair Labor Standards Act,” said Wage and Hour Division Administrator Betty Campbell in Dallas. “The operator of these Fuzzy’s Taco Shops in Tulsa has learned a costly lesson. We encourage all employers to contact the Wage and Hour Division to ensure their pay practices comply with the law.”

Founded in 2003 in Fort Worth, Texas, Fuzzy’s Taco Shops is a franchisor with about 150 locations nationwide.

In fiscal year 2021, the Wage and Hour Division conducted 4,237 investigations in the food service industry, recovering $34.7 million in back wages for more than 29,000 employees nationwide. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that 958,000 food and accommodation services workers left their positions in December 2021. BLS projects about 41,400 openings for food service managers each year, on average, from 2020 to 2030.

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. 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.

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Employer:                              Fayetteville Miyabi Inc., operating as Miyabi Japanese Steak Restaurant

Investigation site:                 1990 Skibo Road, Fayetteville, NC 28314

Investigation findings: U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division investigators found that inaccurate timekeeping practices resulted in a minimum wage violation for not paying for all hours worked. Miyabi also paid some employees a flat salary for hours over 40 in a workweek. As a result, the employer failed to pay the required overtime.

Back Wages Recovered:       $25,617 in back wages for six workers                                        

Quote: “Employers that manipulate time records to avoid paying employees their legally earned wages harms workers and their families,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Richard Blaylock in Raleigh, North Carolina. “Employers who fail to realize this can quickly find themselves struggling to keep and find workers.”

Background: Employers can get more information about their responsibilities online, including a fact sheet that outlines how business can apply Fair Labor Standards Act wage laws for employees of restaurants and fast-food businesses.

Learn more about Wage and Hour Division.

Employer: Magnolia Processing Inc.

Investigation site: 5255 Hwy 4, Tunica, MS 38676

Investigation findings: Wage and Hour Division investigators found the employer failed to comply with H-2A program regulations and also violated the Fair Labor Standards Act when they failed to do the following:

• Did not state actual terms and conditions related to workers’ duties in the job order, as required.
• Failed to provide U.S. workers in the same jobs as H-2A workers with a copy of the work contract.
• Failed to pay workers subsistence as required by inbound transportation regulations for travel to the U.S.
• Failed to pay required rate to 38 current and former employees who worked in the same positions as the H-2A workers, resulting in back wages due.
• Did not meet pay statement requirements.

Back Wages Recovered: $11,383 in back wages for 45 workers. The employer paid $23,320 in civil money penalties for H-2A violations.                 

Quote: “The H-2A program is intended to provide employers with workers needed to operate their businesses for a temporary time period when workers are needed. The program prohibits employers from discriminating against U.S. workers and paying them less than H-2A workers,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Audrey Hall in Jackson, Mississippi.

“Magnolia Processing’s failure to comply with requirements of the H-2A program denied workers their full wages, and led to costly penalties for the employer. This investigation emphasizes the department’s commitment to using all our enforcement tools to protect the rights of all people – both domestic and visa workers – who work in this essential industry,” Hall added.

Background: Magnolia Processing Inc. handles fresh and frozen seafood processing.

The Immigration and Nationality Act authorizes the lawful admission into the U.S. of temporary, nonimmigrant workers – H-2A workers – to perform agricultural labor or services of a temporary or seasonal nature. Employers can get more information about their responsibilities online, including guidance for employees regarding the H-2A program. Learn more about Wage and Hour Division.

ESTERO, FL – A federal investigation of three North Miami Beach restaurants that found the operator denied 58 workers their full overtime wages, has recovered $18,705 in back wages and liquidated damages for the affected employees.

Investigators with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division determined that Restaurant Investment at Bonita LLC – the operator of three Divieto Ristorante locations in Estero, Doral and Aventura – failed to pay the additional overtime premium required at half of the applicable minimum wage or regular rate when employees worked more than 40 hours in a week. The employer’s actions violate the Fair Labor Standards Act.  

The division also found the employer allowed two 15-year-old employees to work after 10 p.m. on non-school days, a violation of FLSA work hour standards for workers under the age of 16. The department assessed the employer a $1,382 civil money penalty to address the child labor violation.

“Denying workers their legally earned wages hinders their ability to provide for themselves and their families,” said Wage and Hour Division District Office Director Nicolas Ratmiroff in Tampa, Florida. “As employers find it increasingly difficult to recruit and retain the workers they need, those who shortchange wages and take advantage of their employees may struggle to find the staff to support their businesses.”

In December 2021, the Bureau of Labor Statistics projected that 958,000 food and accommodation services workers left their positions, and that there will be about 41,400 openings for food service managers each year, on average, from 2020 to 2030.

The Wage and Hour 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. Workers can call the 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) 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.

LANCASTER, PA – A federal court entered a consent judgment against a Pennsylvania home healthcare agency and its owner after investigators found they denied 193 direct care workers overtime pay.

Entered on April 11, 2022, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, the judgment requires Nursing Care in Home LLC – operating as Meridius Health in Lancaster – and owner, Rustam Suvanidze to pay a total of $1,158,955. The employer will pay $579,477 in back wages, and an equal amount in liquidated damages to the affected workers.

In addition, the employer and its owner must pay $37,921 in civil money penalties assessed by the department for the willful nature of their violations.

Investigators with the department’s Wage and Hour Division’s Wilkes-Barre District Office determined the employer paid employees straight time for all hours worked. Additionally, bonuses and hazard pay were not factored into the employees’ rate of pay for purposes of computing overtime. Their actions are violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act. In addition to the back wages, damages and penalties, the judgment prohibits the employers from violating the FLSA in the future.

“Home care workers deliver essential services on a daily basis, and their work is vital to the well-being of the people they serve,” said Acting Wage and Hour Administrator Jessica Looman. “The Wage and Hour Division will not tolerate the exploitation of care workers or attempts to circumvent federal overtime laws.”

“This enforcement action goes a long way to ensure that the healthcare workers employed by Meridius Health receive all of their hard-earned wages, including overtime pay,” said Solicitor of Labor Seema Nanda. “Employers have a legal responsibility to pay employees all wages earned.”

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that 679,000 healthcare and social services workers left their positions in December 2021. As the aging U.S. population grows and demand for home healthcare services increases, employment in a variety of healthcare sectors is projected to grow 16 percent from 2020 to 2030, faster than the average for all occupations – adding about 2.6 million new jobs. These trends indicate that industry employers will find it more difficult to recruit and retain without being highly competitive and ensuring compliance with laws governing workers’ rights.

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.

EAST ORANGE, NJ – The U.S. Department of Labor and an East Orange medical transport services contractor has reached a settlement agreement after a federal investigation found violations of the McNamara-O’Hara Service Contract Act.

As part of the agreement, Virgo Medical Services Inc. paid $578,018 in back wages, and health and welfare benefits to 87 workers responsible for transporting military veterans to and from doctor appointments and unscheduled medical visits.  It also agreed to a 5-year enhanced compliance agreement intended to ensure future compliance with the Service Contract Act and prevent future violations.

Under three separate contracts with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs – totaling $25,678,362 – Virgo Medical Services Inc. provided veterans with medical transportation services for unscheduled and scheduled medical appointments to various VA medical centers and clinics in New Jersey and Philadelphia. On one of the contracts, Virgo used five workers employed by another medical transport services company, Lifeline Medical Service Inc.

An investigation by the department’s Wage and Hour Division determined that the employer failed to pay 87 ambulance and shuttle bus drivers, and emergency medical technicians, the applicable prevailing wages based on the specific contract and the employees’ duties and did not pay the required health and welfare benefits.

To resolve the matter, the department’s Office of the Solicitor reached a settlement with Virgo requiring the employer to agree to 5 years of enhanced compliance provisions, including:

• Train managerial staff on SCA requirements.
• Hire an SCA compliance manager.
• Provide written notice to all employees about their rights under the SCA, Fair Labor Standards Act, and Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act.
• Provide notice to the division if it bids on and/or is awarded future SCA contracts.

“Enforcement of prevailing wage laws protects the wages of hard-working, middle-class workers in America. Violations of the Service Contract Act and other federal wage laws are preventable if employers and employees know and understand their responsibilities and rights under the law,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Paula Ruffin in Mountainside, New Jersey. “We encourage them to contact the Wage and Hour Division to learn more.”

“The U.S. Department of Labor is committed to ensuring employees are paid the wages they have rightfully earned and federal contractors comply with the law. When employers fail to do so, we will pursue appropriate legal means on behalf of the workers and the law,” said Regional Solicitor Jeffrey Rogoff in New York.

The Wage and Hour Division’s Northern New Jersey District Office conducted the investigation. Trial Attorney Peter Kellett of the New York Regional Office of the Solicitor negotiated the settlement for the department.

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 SCA, 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.

BAYVILLE, NJ - Following a U.S. Department of Labor investigation, an administrative law judge ordered a commercial landscaping company based in Bayville to pay 47 temporary landscaping workers $181,670.19 in back wages. The employer will also pay $38,329.81 in civil money penalties.

The department’s Wage and Hour Division investigation determined that Turf Masters Inc. employed grasscutters for more than 50 hours per week, paid them sub-prevailing wage rates for all hours worked, and then attempted to hide these practices from the division. Turf Masters hired the workers from Mexico to work as grasscutters under the H-2B temporary non-agricultural workers visa program, which allows employers to temporarily hire foreign workers to perform nonagricultural labor or services in the United States.

Specifically, the division found Turf Masters violated the H-2B program requirements to:

• Pay the required prevailing wage rate, at the time, of $15.52 per hour and $23.28 for overtime hours worked. The employer instead paid the temporary workers approximately $11 an hour;
• Reimburse workers for inbound and outbound travel expenses; and
• Comply with retaining records and documents for three years from the date the H-2B application is certified, or from the date of adjudication if the application is denied, or from the day the department receives the letter of withdrawal if the employer withdraws the application.

Investigators also determined that Turf Masters instructed workers to, among other things, falsely state that they never worked overtime hours.

The department’s Office of Administrative Law Judges issued a decision and order approving consent findings, which requires Turf Masters to pay back wages to resolve the wage violations. The landscaping company will also pay the civil money penalty assessed by the department due to the substantial nature of the violations.

Additionally, the employer agreed to extensive enhanced compliance measures for the next four years that require the institution of an electronic timekeeping system; hiring of a bilingual monitor to conduct trainings, audits, and confidential interviews of all the company’s H-2B workers every year and installation of GPS devices on each vehicle used to transport workers.

“Employees have a right to be paid their wages, to seek those wages and cooperate with investigators. The Wage and Hour Division will not tolerate interference with its investigations,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Charlene Rachor in Lawrenceville, New Jersey. “This investigation underscores the department’s commitment to using all enforcement tools to protect the rights of people who work in the U.S. Other employers should use the outcome of this investigation as an opportunity to review their own practices to make sure they comply with the law and avoid violations like those found in this case.”

“Employers who flout the rules of the H-2B program harm workers and gain unfair economic advantages. The U.S. Department of Labor will actively litigate such cases to achieve resolutions that ensure that applicants and workers are properly paid and prevent future violations,” said regional Solicitor of Labor Jeffrey Rogoff in New York.

The division’s Southern New Jersey District Office conducted the investigation. Attorney Jacob Heyman-Kantor and Senior Trial Attorney Rolando Valdez with the department’s regional Office of the Solicitor in New York litigated the case.

Learn more about the H-2B program.

Learn more about the Wage and Hour Division, including a search tool to use if you think you may be owed back wages collected by the division. Workers can call the Wage and Hour Division confidentially with questions – regardless of their immigration status – and the department can speak with callers in more than 200 languages.

TRAFFORD, PA – Four federal investigations have led to the recovery of $383,183 in back wages and liquidated damages for 46 workers of a Trafford homecare service provider who denied them their full wages by not paying them overtime when the law required.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division conducted four investigations of From the Heart Companion Service LLC and found the employer neglected to pay overtime as required to the affected employees at four Pittsburgh-area locations for hours worked over 40 hours in a workweek, a violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act. To resolve the violations, From the Heart Companion Service LLC paid $191,591.71 in back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages to workers at the following locations:

“Professional caregivers provide vital support and services to some of the most vulnerable populations. They must receive all of their rightfully earned wages,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director John DuMont in Pittsburgh. “The outcome of our investigations at From the Heart Companion Service LLC should remind other employers to review their pay practices to avoid costly penalties. We encourage them to contact the Wage and Hour Division with any questions, and to avoid compliance issues.”

An investigation at the employer’s location in Hollidaysburg – operating as From the Heart at Penn State LLC – found no violations.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics found, in December 2021, that 716,000 healthcare and social assistance workers left their positions. As the aging U.S. population grows and demand for home healthcare services increases, employment for home health and personal care aides is projected to grow 33 percent from 2020 to 2030 – faster than the average for all occupations – adding about 1.1 million new jobs. These trends indicate that industry employers will find it more difficult to recruit and retain without being highly competitive and ensuring compliance with law governing workers’ rights.

“Healthcare workers are in great demand and facing record burnout,” added DuMont. “Healthcare employers whose pay practices comply with the law have a competitive advantage when it comes to attracting and retaining workers. Employers unsure about their legal obligations should contact the U.S. Department of Labor to prevent costly violations and ensure they are able to compete as an employer.”

Founded by company President and Owner Janis Mandich Durick in 2006, the Trafford-based From the Heart Companion Service LLC provides homecare for elderly and physically challenged individuals.

Learn more about the Wage and Hour Division, including a search tool to use if you think you may be owed back wages collected by the division. Workers can call the Wage and Hour Division confidentially with questions – regardless of their immigration status – and the department can speak with callers in more than 200 languages.

UNION CITY, CA – A federal investigation has recovered $176,193 in back wages for nine health care workers after the owner of four Bay Area residential care homes denied them overtime pay.

A U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division investigation determined AS&P Corp. LLC – doing business as Bordon Homes – illegally placed a cap on overtime at 16 hours per pay period and paid any overtime beyond 16 hours at straight time rates, a violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act. The employer also failed to properly maintain employee records, leading to recordkeeping and additional overtime violations.

The investigation led to the recovery of $176,193 in back wages. The employer was also assessed $6,534 in civil money penalties for the willful nature of the violations. This is not the first time Bordon Homes has been found in violation of the FLSA: the company paid $70,373 in back wages and liquidated damages to nine employees in 2016 following a federal investigation that found multiple FLSA violations.

“The health care industry is among the fastest growing sectors of our economy and care workers continue to face adversity. The Department of Labor is committed to protecting the rights of all workers, especially the most vulnerable,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Susana Blanco in San Jose, California. “Employers who wish to remain competitive in the employment marketplace should use the many tools the department provides to comply with the Fair Labor Standards Act.”

Since 2017, the Wage and Hour Division has completed more than 5,000 investigations of nursing care facilities, home health facilities, and child day care facilities. These investigations recovered more than $200 million dollars in back wages for employees.

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. 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.