DETROIT – A Detroit law firm paid its administrative and support staff workers a salary for all hours worked but failed to pay at least 36 workers the overtime wages they earned. Investigators with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division determined that, while the employees of McKeen & Associates P.C. met the salary requirements, they did not meet the duty requirements to defer the employer’s overtime pay obligation to the workers as executive, administrative, or professionally exempt employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act.

If a professional employee does not meet all the following requirements, the employer must pay overtime:

• The employee must be compensated on a salary or fee basis (as defined in the regulations) at a rate not less than $684 per week.
• The employee’s primary duty must be the performance of work requiring advanced knowledge, defined as work which is predominantly intellectual in character, and requires the consistent exercise of discretion and judgment.
• The advanced knowledge must be in a field of science or learning; and must be customarily acquired by a prolonged course of specialized intellectual instruction.

“Our investigation of McKeen & Associates found the firm systemically violated overtime regulations by misapplying overtime rules to avoid paying salaried workers the overtime pay they were due,” said Wage and Hour District Director Timolin Mitchell in Detroit. “Overtime violations are among the most common found by the agency, and they are easily avoidable. We encourage employers to use our online tools or contact the Wage and Hour Division with questions to ensure they are paying workers all of their rightful wages and prevent costly penalties for violating the law.” 

McKeen & Associates P.C. specializes in medical malpractice and personal injury cases at its offices in Detroit, South Haven, and Ottawa, Ohio.

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).

WEST COLUMBIA, SC – When federal investigators inspected a West Columbia used auto dealer, they found the employer’s pay practices violated wage laws, leading to the recovery of more than $64,566 in back wages and liquidated damages for 24 workers.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division found B & L Foreign Car LLC – operating as B & L Auto Sales – paid employees straight-time rates for hours worked over 40 in a workweek, rather than the time-and-one-half required. Investigators also discovered the employer had misclassified some workers as independent contractors and, in fact, led the workers to wrongly believe classification as a contractor or employee was optional.

B & L’s actions violated overtime and recordkeeping provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

“Misclassifying workers as independent contractors denies them the minimum wage and overtime protections they are due. It also has consequences regarding Social Security and other benefits,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Jamie Benefiel in Columbia, South Carolina. “The outcome of our investigation at B & L Auto Sales should remind other employees in the industry that ignoring their legal obligations comes at a high cost. The employer may also find it becomes harder to retain and recruit workers they desperately need.”

View an online FLSA guide that outlines the difference between employees and independent contractors or view this page to see how FLSA might apply to the auto industry. A compliance assistance toolkit with many resources for the auto industry is also available.

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 and employers can call the agency’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243) confidentially, and calls can be answered in more than 200 languages.

MOBILE, AL – The illegal pay practices of a Louisville, Kentucky, staffing agency that provides aviation maintenance and repair workers to airlines nationwide shortchanged workers in Mobile, a U.S. Department of Labor investigation has found.

Investigators with the department’s Wage and Hour Division found that TechFlyte LLC – contracted by VT Mobile Aerospace to furnish workers – paid time-and-a-half for overtime at illegally reduced overtime pay rates. The employer also labeled a portion of employees’ wages as a per diem to obscure the true rate of pay. TechFlyte’s actions violated overtime and recordkeeping provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act, and denied 129 workers all of their legally earned wages.

The division’s investigation led to the recovery of $269,038 in back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages, totaling $538,076 for the TechFlyte workers assigned to VT Mobile Aerospace Engineering.

The department also assessed $63,196 in civil money penalties for the willful nature of the violations. The division found identical violations related to the payment of per diem wages by TechFlyte LLC in Kansas City, Missouri, investigation in June 2020. In that case, the division recovered $18,755 in back wages for 22 workers.

“Using per diem pay practices to avoid or reduce overtime owed to employees is illegal,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Kenneth Stripling in Birmingham, Alabama. “When per diem payments are applied to pay as a screen, it’s a scheme that defrauds workers and taxpayers, and hurts law-abiding companies.”

“This practice negatively impacts workers and makes it hard to retain specialized technicians doing vital work for our nation,” Stripling said. “In particular, in the event of workplace injury and lay-offs, per diem workers may not be protected. Retirement, health insurance, paid leave for illness or vacation may not be available for them either.”                                 

For information about laws enforced by the division, contact the agency’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Calls can be answered confidentially in over 200 languages. The Wage and Hour Division has a number of resources for workers and employers, including a search tool to use if you think you may be owed back wages collected by Wage and Hour Division.

BUFFALO, NY – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division recovered $106,623 in back wages and liquidated damages for 37 cashiers and cooks employed at three Pita Gourmet locations in Erie and Niagara counties after its investigation found the operator paid some employees cash off the books, paid straight time for overtime for hours worked over 40 in a workweek and failed to combine hours worked by employees at multiple locations.

The division found Mahfouz Inc., the restaurants’ operator, also kept no daily or weekly records of hours worked by employees and falsified work hours for overtime. The violations affected employees at company restaurants in East Amherst, Niagara Falls and Williamsville.

In addition to the back wages and damages recovered, the department assessed $8,988 in civil money penalties to resolve violations of the overtime and recordkeeping requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

“Food service employees are essential workers and entitled to the essential protections in the Fair Labor Standards Act. As food service industry employers struggle to find the people to fill the jobs needed to stay competitive, they should consider that retaining and recruiting workers is more difficult when employers disrespect workers’ rights and deny them their full wages,” said Wage and Hour Division Assistant District Director Patrick DeForest in Buffalo, New York. “We encourage employers and workers with questions about their rights and responsibilities to contact us.”

In fiscal year 2021, more than 4,200 Wage and Hour Division investigations recovered more than $34.7 million for more than 29,000 workers in the food service industry.                    

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 a restaurant 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.

WASHINGTON – Despite their critical role in the economy, farmworkers too often face unpaid wages, unsafe transportation to and from worksites, and substandard housing conditions.

The U.S. Department of Labor will mark National Farmworker Awareness Week, from March 26 to April 2, with a broad effort by its Wage and Hour Division to improve compliance among the nation’s agricultural employers. The effort includes a virtual agricultural seminar, “Nourishing Equity and Cultivating Compliance,” from April 5 to 7, offering sessions about federal laws governing employment and their enforcement, for industry employers, workers, farm labor contractors and other stakeholders. The division’s regional offices will also present a series of related outreach events across the country as part of the effort.

Register to attend Nourishing Equity and Cultivating Compliance seminar.

Specifically, the seminar will review the Migrant and Seasonal Worker Protection Act, agriculture and child labor provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act, as well as H-2A and Field Sanitation requirements. Topics such as equity, retaliation and human trafficking in the agricultural sector will also be discussed.

Earlier this month, the Wage and Hour Division published resources to help combat retaliation against workers who assert their rights and, in January, the agency announced its commitment of resources, collaboration with law enforcement agencies and outreach to combat labor trafficking.

“National Farmworker Awareness Week should remind all of us of the essential role these workers play in feeding us, our families and our communities,” said Acting Wage and Hour Division Administrator Jessica Looman. “It also serves to inspire us to expand our outreach and strengthen our enforcement efforts to ensure all agricultural workers receive the wages they are due and are protected from retaliation for exercising their rights.” 

In fiscal year 2021, the department recovered $8.4 million in back wages for more than 10,300 agricultural employees and assessed employers with more than $7.3 million in civil monetary penalties.

For more information about farmworker rights, how to file a complaint, MSPA, H-2A and other laws enforced by the division, contact the toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Calls can be answered confidentially in over 200 languages, regardless of immigration status. Learn more about the Wage and Hour Division, including an Agricultural Compliance Assistance Toolkit.

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MEMPHIS, TN – The operator of a Memphis Shell gas station and convenience store paid workers cash bonuses in place of overtime pay and persuaded them to sign altered time records to avoid paying full overtime wages due, a U.S. Department of Labor investigation has found.   

The department’s Wage and Hour Division found Thirsty Enterprise LLC also failed to pay one employee the federal minimum wage. The worker received a fixed salary for all hours worked, but the salary provided less the required minimum wage for each hour of work. The employer also paid cashiers – some who worked more than 80 hours per week – with checks that showed fewer hours than actually worked and asked the employees to sign altered time records. The employer then paid those workers the balance of the hours worked in cash at straight-time rates, rather than the time-and-one-half required for hours that exceeded 40 in a workweek.

The employer’s actions violated minimum wage, overtime and recordkeeping provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

“The Fair Labor Standards Act specifies what employers can and can’t do when it comes to workers’ pay,” said Wage and Hour Regional Administrator Juan Coria in Atlanta. “Keeping false and inaccurate records to avoid paying workers as the law requires is illegal and makes it more difficult to retain qualified employees.”

The division recovered $30,005 in back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages for four workers. The employer paid a $2,324 civil money penalty to address the violations.

The Wage and Hour Division encourages people to contact the agency directly with questions or use free, online resources to understand their workplace responsibilities, including an online FLSA guide that outlines common violations. Workers and employers alike, can also call the agency’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243) confidentially with questions regarding their rights and responsibilities.

The department is dedicated to improving the conditions of workers and helping employers understand their legal responsibilities and help them enhance workplace dynamics that cultivate healthy organizations.  

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.

WHO:             U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division

                        Doña Anna Community College

WHAT:           2022 Agricultural Employer Seminar

WHEN:          March 31, 2022

                       8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

WHERE:       Doña Ana Community College Workforce Center

                        2345 Nevada Ave., #121

                        Las Cruces, NM  88001

The event will include an introduction and an overview of the responsibilities and functions of various agencies, including the Department of Labor’s Office of Foreign Labor Certification, its Wage and Hour Division and the New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions. Federal and state legal requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act, Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act, H-2A: Temporary Agricultural Employment of Foreign Workers program, New Mexico Workman’s’ Compensation Administration and Office of Foreign Labor Certification will be discussed.

Organizers invite growers, farmers, shippers, contractors, farm labor contractors and agricultural buyers to attend. In addition, the event will offer farm labor contractors the opportunity to learn how to renew their certifications.

While attendance is free, space is limited. Register by March 30 to attend. For more information, contact Patricia Chavez at (505) 248-2674 or email chavez.patricia@dol.gov. 

PITTSBURGH – Following litigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of the Solicitor, a federal court has entered a consent judgment against three restaurants – one in Pennsylvania and two in West Virginia – and their owners after investigators found they paid back-of-the-house employees off-the-books salaries for all hours worked and denied them overtime pay for hours worked over 40 in a workweek.

The judgment, entered in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania on March 16, 2022, requires Fusion Japanese Steakhouse Inc. in Washington, Pennsylvania; Fusion Japanese Steakhouse Inc. in Vienna, West Virginia; and Z&S International Cuisine Inc., operating as Fusion Japanese Steakhouse of Wheeling in Triadelphia, West Virginia, and owners Yuan Zheng Xiao and Christine Xiao, to pay $1.45 million – $725,000 in back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages – to 116 current and former workers.

The department also assessed the restaurants and their owners $76,724 in civil money penalties for the willful nature of their violations. The employers’ pay practices and failure to maintain records of hours worked violated the Fair Labor Standards Act. In addition to the back wages and damages, the judgment prohibits the employers from future FLSA violations.

On three prior occasions – following investigations in 2012, 2011 and 2010 – the restaurants and owner Yuan Zheng Xiao have paid back wages to workers after violations of the FLSA’s minimum wage, overtime and recordkeeping provisions were discovered.

“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.”

“Wage theft is illegal, it harms workers and their families, and undercuts responsible employers who abide by the law,” said Acting Wage and Hour Division Administrator Jessica Looman. “This sizeable judgment on behalf of restaurant workers demonstrates the Department of Labor’s commitment to protecting these essential workers.”

The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that 958,000 food and accommodation services workers left their positions in December 2021. BLS also projects about 41,400 openings for food service managers each year, on average, from 2020 to 2030.

“Business owners need to understand 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 find the people they need to fill jobs and stay in business.” 

The consent judgment follows an investigation by the division’s Pittsburgh District Office and litigation by the Regional Solicitor’s Office in Philadelphia.

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.

SEATTLE – An ongoing federal initiative to investigate pay practices of residential builders in Washington State found that a Lacey contractor recklessly failed to pay workers overtime for hours they worked over 40 in a workweek in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

An investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division  found that Norpac Financial LLC – operating as Northern Pacific Exterior – paid 39 workers straight-time rates for all hours worked without additional half-time for the overtime hours in excess of 40 per week as required. The employer also failed to produce complete and accurate records for investigators, in violation of federal recordkeeping provisions.

The investigation led to the recovery of $69,963 in overtime back wages plus an additional $69,963 in liquidated damages for the affected employees. In addition, the division assessed $7,050 in civil money penalties due to the reckless nature of Northern Pacific’s violations.

“Hard working employees have the right to be paid all of the wages they’ve legally earned,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Thomas Silva in Seattle. “The U.S. Department of Labor found that Northern Pacific Exterior shortchanged dozens of workers of wages on which they depend to care for themselves and their families. We urge all employers to use the many tools we offer to help them understand the law and avoid costly penalties and damages.”

The division’s Residential Construction Initiative identifies wage violations in the construction industry and recovers wages owed to workers. Since 2019, the division has conducted 9,147 investigations in the construction industry, recovering more than $119 million in unpaid wages for more than 84,000 workers nationwide. Currently, more than $1.9M in back wages recovered by the division remain unclaimed in Washington. In some cases, employers failed to keep accurate records of employee addresses, and in others, former workers relocated and left no contact information.

For more information about the FLSA and other laws the division enforces, contact its toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Workers can speak with us confidentially, in more than 200 languages. 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.

HONOLULU –The U.S. Department of Labor recovered $62,908 in back wages and liquidated damages for 42 workers after an investigation found the operators of five Hawaii restaurants denied them overtime pay and allowed a manager and other employees to take a portion of the workers’ tips illegally.

Investigators with department’s Wage and Hour Division found Elizabeth Diaz and Antonio Aguilar Aguirre – joint owners of four Pacos Tacos Cantina and Lunch Wagon restaurants on Kauai, and one on Oahu – owed workers $12,682 in overtime wages earned for hours worked over 40 in a work week. Diaz and Aguirre also permitted a manager and others at the restaurants to take as much as $18,771 from tips earned by the workers. Both actions violated the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Federal law forbids an employer from keeping workers’ tips and prohibits managers and supervisors from taking tips employees receive, including through tip pools. These restrictions apply even if the employer pays tipped workers hourly rates equal to, or above the full minimum wage. 

In addition to the recovery of back wages and liquidated damages, the division assessed $10,000 in civil money penalties due to the nature of the employers’ violations.

“Just as there are required quality standards for the food we consume at restaurants, there are also federal labor standards for workers in this industry. Federal laws require overtime pay for hours worked in excess of 40 in a workweek and that tipped employees retain the tips they’ve earned,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Terence Trotter, in Honolulu. “Employers should take advantage of the many educational tools we offer in order to avoid costly violations such as those found in this case.”

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 projects that 958,000 food and accommodation services workers left their positions in December 2021. BLS also projects about 41,400 openings for food service managers each year, on average, from 2020 to 2030.

“As more workers choose to leave food industry jobs, employers who deny workers their rightful wages may find themselves unable to retain and recruit the people they need to operate their businesses,” Trotter added. “In turn, employers who comply with the law will have the advantage as many workers have choices when it comes to finding employment.”

Learn more about the Wage and Hour Division and 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.