ORLANDO, FL – Employers cannot avoid paying overtime by simply putting employees on a salary, a costly lesson learned by a Florida equipment rental company after a U.S. Department of Labor investigation.

The department’s Wage and Hour Division investigators determined that DeLand’s CJ Don’s Rental Group LLC and Ormond Beach’s Logsyd Group LLC – both operating as Southern Equipment Rental – paid flat salaries to certain employees, regardless of the number of hours they worked. By doing so, the employer violated overtime requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act that require most employees to receive  additional half-time when they work more than 40 hours in a workweek. In addition, Southern Equipment Rental failed to maintain records of hours worked by employees paid a fixed salary.

The investigation led to the division’s recovery of $65,967 in back wages and liquidated damages for 13 workers at the DeLand location and $56,309 for nine workers at the Ormond Beach location.

“Paying employees a salary doesn’t exclude employers from their legal obligation to pay overtime wages. Most workers, especially blue-collar workers, are required to receive additional half-time pay when they work more than 40 hours in a workweek, whether they are paid by the hour, the piece or on a salary basis,” said Wage and Hour Division District Office Director Wildalí De Jesús in Orlando, Florida. “The Wage and Hour Division is available to help workers and employers understand their rights and responsibilities regarding the law. Violations like those found in this case are avoidable.”

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 – regardless of their immigration status – 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.

PORTLAND, OR – The U.S. Department of Labor enforces laws that protect workers’ rights. It also holds unscrupulous employers who shortchange their workers accountable, as it has done on behalf of 118 workers at three Oregon restaurants after an investigation revealed wage theft and other violations.

The department’s Wage and Hour Division found the operators of KKOKI Korean BBQ restaurants in Portland, Eugene and Salem withheld tips earned by workers, allowed managers to take a portion workers’ tips and paid overtime wages only when workers exceeded 86 hours per pay period instead of after 40 hours per week as the Fair Labor Standards Act requires. The employer also failed to keep accurate employee records.

The investigation led to a total recovery of $169,728, representing $84,864 in back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages. In addition, the division assessed $30,199 in penalties for the willful nature of the employer’s violations.

“Restaurant industry workers are paid some of the country’s lowest wages, yet many put themselves at risk throughout the pandemic to serve their customers and help employers keep their businesses open,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Carrie Aguilar in Portland, Oregon. “Wage theft, like that found in this case, hurts these essential workers and their families. Business owners must understand that violations can limit their ability to recruit and retain the people who do these jobs. As we’ve seen, the pandemic has prompted many restaurant industry workers to find employment that better suits their needs and find jobs with employers who will pay them all the wages they have earned.”

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 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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Employer name:                   Area Wide Protection Inc., doing business as Roadtek Traffic Solutions LLC                                                                                                               5874 N. Lee Highway, Suite 100                                                                                                                                                                                                         Fairfield, VA 24435

Investigation by:                   U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division                                                                                                                                                              Richmond District Office

Dates of violations:               Oct. 29, 2020, to April 30, 2021

Violations’ locations:           Fairfield, Verona, Richmond, Fredericksburg, Roanoke, Pulaski and Manassas, Virginia; Kinston and Sanford, North Carolina; and Scranton, Pennsylvania.

Investigation findings: Division investigators found Roadtek Traffic Solutions required employees to report to the office to conduct pre-and-post-shift tasks prior to starting their workday. However, Roadtek failed to pay employees for time spent performing pre-and-post-shift tasks, resulting in overtime violations. These employees were entitled to overtime wages at time-and-a-half for hours worked over 40 in a workweek. For these Fair Labor Standards Act violations, Roadtek paid $112,187 in back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages to 297 non-exempt employees in Virginia, North Carolina and Pennsylvania. In addition, the employer failed to maintain an accurate record of hours worked, as the law requires.

Quote: “Workers deserve to be paid all the wages earned for all the hours they work. When workers are required to complete any tasks before their shift begins, the workday begins at the start of those tasks and it continues through the completion of the last post-shift activity,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Roberto Melendez in Richmond, Virginia. “We encourage other employers to use this investigation’s outcome as an opportunity to review their pay practices to avoid similar violations.”

Company description: Based in North Canton, Ohio, Roadtek Traffic Solutions provides traffic control services including flagging operation, detour, lane closure, barricade services, and installation and removal of signs. 

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.

CHICAGO ‒ Careworkers put in long hours tending to the vital needs of people in their homes and at health care facilities, yet they are among the nation’s lowest paid workers. Their jobs are made even more difficult when employers fail to pay them all their rightfully earned wages.

As part of U.S. Department of Labor efforts to build better jobs and increase pay equity, the department’s Wage and Hour Division regional office in Chicago will host a webinar on March 23 from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. CDT titled, “Midwest Care Workers Summit 2022.”

The virtual summit brings together industry stakeholders from Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, Ohio, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri and Wisconsin for an in-depth discussion about issues affecting federal labor law compliance within the health care industry in the Midwest.

“We want to hear directly from stakeholders in the healthcare industry about what the Wage and Hour Division can do to enhance their understanding of federal wages laws, provide resources and ensure essential healthcare workers are receiving the wages they are due,” said Wage and Hour Regional Administrator Michael Lazzeri in Chicago. “The healthcare industry has faced relentless challenges throughout the pandemic, and the Wage and Hour Division is committed to taking better take care of those who take care of us.”

Investigations by the Wage and Hour Division recovered more than $22.7 million for Midwest healthcare workers from 2019 to 2021 as a result of violations of worker protections under the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Building on the progress made with the Essential Workers - Essential Protections Initiative, the Wage and Hour Division embarked on a series of steps to increase communication between healthcare employers and the federal agency. They conducted more than 70 listening sessions with over 500 stakeholders across 50 cities nationwide.

“The U.S. Department of Labor’s recently announced ‘Good Jobs Initiative’ focuses on connecting the dots between the needs of employers and workers. The disruption caused by the pandemic provides a unique opportunity to ensure full and fair employment opportunities and proper wages as the country goes back to work. We can improve conditions for women who dominate the healthcare industry, and the nation’s economic recovery can propel us toward greater equity,” Lazzeri added.

Register to attend.

For more information about the FLSA and other laws enforced by the Wage and Hour Division, contact the division’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Calls can be received confidentially in over 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.

Employer name:                                Heavenly Victory LLC, doing business as Naranjero Super 1

Investigation site:                              Albuquerque, New Mexico

Investigation findings: Fair Labor Standards Act overtime violations found when the employer paid employees a fixed salary for all hours worked instead of time and one-half the hourly employees’ rate of pay. The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division cited the employer with child labor violations for allowing two minors under 18 to operate a meat saw and a meat slicer in violation of the federal child labor hazardous order #10. Division investigators also found that Heavenly Victory LLC modified time records to reflect that employees only worked 40 hours per week, in violation of the FLSA’s recordkeeping provisions. 

Back wages recovered:                     $16,075 in owed overtime to four workers

Penalties:                                            Paid $4,888 in civil money penalties

“The Fair Labor Standards Act’s child labor regulations exist to ensure our children’s jobs and work hours do not jeopardize their safety, well-being or educational opportunities,” said Wage and Hour District Director Evelyn Ortiz in Albuquerque, New Mexico. “Employers must understand FLSA requirements to avoid child labor, overtime and recordkeeping violations, such as those in this case.”

AMERICAN CANYON, CA – A federal investigation has recovered $315,536 in back wages for 158 workers of American Canyon home care agency where the owner and CEO unlawfully required hourly employees who earned significant overtime to sign an agreement to be paid straight time for up to 160 hours per pay period.

A U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division investigation determined A Bright Future Inc. violated overtime requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act by failing to pay the affected workers for all hours worked in excess of 40 hours in a workweek and by paying straight time for all hours of work, including overtime. The division also cited A Bright Future’s owner and CEO Max Konan for requiring workers to defer their overtime wages, also an FLSA violation.

In addition, the home care agency violated federal recordkeeping provisions when they failed to count workers’ hours funded and paid by the State of California’s In-Home Supportive Services program as hours worked.

The investigation led to the division’s recovery of $315,536 in back wages for the workers who provide in-home care, day program and transportation services to people with disabilities.

“The services home care workers provide are vital to the people whose quality of life depends on them – people with disabilities and their families,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Susana Blanco in San Jose, California. “Our investigation enabled us to help essential workers in an industry where our investigations find wage theft is all-too-common, and allowed us to put an average of nearly $2,000 into the pockets of each of the affected workers at A Bright Future Inc.”

Since 2017, the Wage and Hour Division 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.

LAUREL RUN, PA – An investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor recovered $221,307 in back wages and damages for 32 nursing staff employees of a Luzerne County treatment center found to be intentionally shortchanging workers of their overtime pay repeatedly.

A consent judgment entered by the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania on Feb. 18, 2022, ordered payment of the back wages and liquidated damages by defendants Banyan Treatment Center LLC, Wilkes-Barre Treatment LLC which operates as Clearbrook Treatment Center in Laurel Run, and Banyan’s Vice President of Human Resources Joseph Bozza. The court’s action follows an investigation by the department’s Wage and Hour Division that determined the employer manually deducted a 30-minute break from nurses unable to take their lunch breaks. By doing so, the employer failed to pay full wages to the affected workers.

In addition to the back wages and liquidated damages, the court ordered Clearbrook to pay a $33,184 civil money penalty, assessed by the department due to the repeat and willful nature of the violations. A 2019 investigation by the division found the treatment center committed similar violations.

“Caregiving employees often respond to emergencies, answer phones or monitor public facing posts during their meal breaks. The time they spend doing so is time worked and they must be paid for that time,” explained Wage and Hour District Director Alfonso Gristina in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. “Clearbrook Treatment Center’s staff provide their clients with essential services and they deserve to be paid all of their hard-earned wages. The Wage and Hour Division will not tolerate willful violations of workers’ rights.”

“This consent judgment will help to ensure that employees are paid for all of the hours they work, and that employers who violate the law are held accountable,” said Adam Welsh, Counsel for Wage and Hour with the department’s Office of the Solicitor in Philadelphia.

Owned by Banyan Treatment Center in Pompano Beach, Florida, Clearbrook Treatment Center provides inpatient drug rehabilitation services at locations in Laurel Run and in Winchendon, Massachusetts. Banyan Treatment Center operates 14 locations in California, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and Texas. 

For more information about the FLSA and other laws enforced by the division, contact the agency’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Learn more about the Wage and Hour Division, including a search tool to use if you think you may be owed back wages collected by the division. The division protects workers regardless of immigration status and can communicate with workers in more than 200 languages.

SAN DIEGO – Un franquiciado de McDonald’s pagará $25,920 en multas luego de que una investigación del Departamento de Trabajo de EE.UU. descubriera que el empleador asignó a empleados menores de edad trabajos peligrosos en tres ubicaciones de Santa Ana, en violación de las leyes de trabajo infantil.

La División de Horas y Salarios del departamento descubrió que los restaurantes – operados por Man-Cal Inc. y Cal-Man Corp., con sede en Costa Mesa –  violaron las disposiciones sobre trabajo infantil de la Ley de Normas Justas de Trabajo al emplear a menores de edad en ocupaciones peligrosas. Los investigadores identificaron a 18 empleados menores llenando y operando compactadores de basura.

Los reglamentos sobre trabajo infantil de la FLSA se promulgaron para proteger las oportunidades educativas de los menores de edad y prohibir su empleo en trabajos y bajo condiciones perjudiciales para su salud o bienestar. Estas regulaciones incluyen restricciones sobre los tipos de trabajos que pueden realizar.

Una de esas reglas, la Orden de Ocupaciones Peligrosas No. 12, prohíbe a menores de 18 años cargar, operar y descargar compactadores eléctricos y máquinas de procesamiento de papel, incluidos compactadores de basura y empacadoras de papel y cartón.

Además del pago de multas, la propietaria de las franquicias, Virginia Mangione, acordó asegurar capacitación y supervisión adicionales para gerentes y empleados en sus 10 sucursales para evitar futuras violaciones.

“Los cambios acordados por la propietaria garantizarán la seguridad de trabajadores jóvenes”, dijo el Director Distrital de la División de Horas y Salarios Eric Murray en San Diego. “Esta mano de obra joven nos está brindando a todos servicios de alta demanda. A cambio, no deberían tener que exigir derechos básicos del trabajador, como la seguridad laboral. Recomendamos a todos los empleadores que contratan a jóvenes que evalúen sus actuales estándares laborales y hagan lo mejor por nuestros menores”.

Vea información para empleadores, padres, trabajadores jóvenes y educadores sobre empleo de menores.

Para más información sobre la FLSA y otras leyes de la división, llame a la línea de ayuda gratuita de la agencia al 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Conozca más sobre la División de Horas y Salarios, incluyendo una herramienta de búsqueda para usar si usted cree que la división podría tener salarios atrasados. Los trabajadores pueden llamar confidencialmente a la División de Horas y Salarios con preguntas – sin importar su estatus migratorio – y el departamento puede hablar con los que llamen en más de 200 idiomas.

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JACKSONVILLE, FL – The U.S. Department of Labor has found $118,042 in back wages and liquidated damages due to 10 employees of a Jacksonville restaurant operator who forced servers to work for tips alone, denied overtime wages to others and failed to keep accurate records of the hours employees worked.

An investigation by the department’s Wage and Hour Division determined that E & E Quezada Food Services Corp., operator of Rosy’s Mexican Restaurant, failed to pay its servers any wages, forcing them to rely on customer tips as their sole compensation. The division also found Rosy’s failed to pay overtime at a rate of one and one-half the rate of pay to dishwashers, cooks and certain servers for hours worked over 40 in a workweek. Investigators discovered the employer also failed to maintain accurate payroll records, including starting and ending times, as well as the total daily and weekly hours worked, as the law requires.

The division also found Rosy’s allowed a 15-year-old employee to work after 7 p.m. during the school week, a violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act’s work hour standards for workers under 16.

“By denying servers a cash wage and forcing them to live on tips alone and denying other workers their overtime pay, Rosy’s Mexican Restaurant made it harder for these employees, who depend on every dollar, to take care of themselves and their families,” said Wage and Hour Division District Office Director Wildalí De Jesús in Orlando, Florida. “The Wage and Hour Division is available to help workers and employers alike understand their rights and responsibilities. Violations like those found in this case can be easily avoided.”

Agency investigators learned of the employer's practices through the Employment Education and Outreach alliance. The alliance is a collaboration of community and nongovernmental organizations, including state, local, and federal agencies and Hispanic consulates that provides information and assistance to Spanish-speaking employees and employers regarding workplace rights and responsibilities. Workers and employers can reach EMPLEO by calling (877) 522-9832 or (877) 55-AYUDA.

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 – regardless of their immigration status – 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.

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FORT WAYNE, IN – The operator of seven Fort Wayne area restaurants shortchanged 17 of its managers when the salary it paid was determined to be insufficient to relieve the employer of its overtime obligations. This led to a violation of overtime pay requirements when employees worked more than 40 hours in a workweek, a U.S. Department of Labor investigation has found.

An investigation by the department’s Wage and Hour Division at five Cebollas Mexican Grill locations in Fort Wayne, and two others in Angola and Auburn, determined the managers’ salary failed to meet the executive exemption requirement under federal law. The division’s investigation led to the recovery of $63,546 in unpaid overtime wages for the 17 managers.

“Before employers assume they do not have to pay overtime, they must ensure that the salary paid and the duties performed by managers are sufficient to relieve the employer of their legal overtime obligations,” explained Wage and Hour Division District Director Patricia Lewis in Indianapolis. “Simply calling an employee a manager and paying them a salary is not sufficient. This is a very common violation, and it can have a negative impact on recruitment and retention of workers. During the course of the pandemic, many essential workers, including those in food service, have sought other employment when their employer failed to pay the full and fair wages earned.”

In addition to the overtime violations, investigators found the employer failed to maintain accurate records of hours worked for managers.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that, in the Midwest, 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.

“Amid this significant shift of workers away from the food service industry, employers should ensure they are paying workers properly. We encourage employers to seek guidance from the U.S. Department of Labor to prevent costly violations and remain competitive,” added Lewis. “Restaurant employers whose pay practices comply with the law can have an advantage when it comes to attracting and retaining workers. Those who shortchange workers may find themselves without staff to operate their businesses well.”

For more information about the FLSA and other laws enforced by the Wage and Hour Division, contact the division’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Learn more about the Wage and Hour Division, including a search tool to use if you think you may be owed back wages collected by the division.

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