WASHINGTON – Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su issued the following statement on the November 2024 Employment Situation report:

“Today, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the American economy added 227,000 jobs in November, confirming what we know to be true: that this is a strong, stable economy and workers are benefiting. After accounting for 56,000 upward revisions to September and October data, the three-month average of payroll employment gains stands at 173,000, indicating a healthy labor market with low unemployment, delivering opportunities for millions of workers.

“Wage growth continues to outpace inflation, with nominal wages increasing by 0.4 percent in November and annual growth of 4.0 percent over the past 12 months. This means that most working Americans have more money in their pockets, across industries and occupations. And the unemployment rate remains at the lowest range we have seen in 50 years. 

“As the Biden-Harris administration prepares to hand off one of the strongest economies in history to the next administration, we do so having created millions of good-paying jobs, strengthened the middle class and ensured broad-based growth following a pandemic that threated to endanger the United States’ position as the strongest economy in the world. This recovery was not promised, but rather it was delivered with strong leadership and investment in working people.”

Employer:   25 Vape & Smoke LLC

Employer address:    1745 North Laurel Road, London, KY 40741

Investigation findings: The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered $12,142 in back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages for 22 employees. Wage and Hour Division investigators determined that the employer and its owner Salik Rao paid straight-time wages for all hours worked, instead of paying them the required overtime rate of time and one-half for hours over 40 in a workweek, a violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act. 

Quote: “Kentucky workers support their families and communities when they clock in, but they can’t fully achieve their earnings’ potential when they do not get every penny they earned,” explained Wage and Hour Division District Director Karen Garnett-Civils in Louisville, Kentucky. “25 Vape & Smoke asked them to do a job, they did it, and those workers deserve to take home every dollar they earned.”

“When a business owner hires workers, they are accepting the responsibilities that go along with that decision,” said Regional Solicitor Tremelle Howard in Atlanta. “Employers must follow wage laws, or they will face legal and financial consequences.”

Background: The U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of the Solicitor previously obtained a court order – in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky on July 23, 2024, that required the employer to pay the back wages and damages and enjoining it from future violations of the minimum wage, overtime wage, and recordkeeping provisions of the FLSA.

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 division confidentially with questions or concerns – regardless of where they are from – and the division can speak with callers in more than 200 languages. Help ensure hours worked and pay are accurate by downloading the department’s Android and iOS Timesheet App for free in English or Spanish. 

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a consent judgment and order in federal court that recovers a total of more than $2.4 million in back wages and liquidated damages from Massachusetts and Pennsylvania healthcare staffing agencies that denied 341 employees overtime wages, including employees misclassified as independent contractors. 

Entered in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts on Nov. 25, 2024, the consent judgment and order requires Gate Solution Systems Inc. of Malden, Massachusetts, and Healthcare Services Group Inc. of Bensalem, Pennsylvania, to pay a total of over $2.4 million as a result of the violations.

“Misclassification of employees as independent contractors remains a serious concern for the Department of Labor,” said Wage and Hour Administrator Jessica Looman. “Preventing and combating misclassification is a priority for the Wage and Hour Division as it deprives workers of their rights to full wages, health and safety protections, unemployment insurance, workers’ compensation and tax protections.”

The department’s Wage and Hour Division found that Gate Solution Systems Inc. misclassified housekeepers, laundry and dietary workers as independent contractors. The employees in this case provided services at healthcare facilities in Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont. Employees were not paid the required overtime rate when they worked more than 40 hours in a workweek.  

In addition to paying back wages and liquidated damages to the affected employees, the consent judgment enjoins Gate Solution Systems and its officers and managers from future Fair Labor Standards Act violations, including failing to maintain employment records. 

Filed by the department’s regional Office of the Solicitor in Boston, the complaint names Gate Solution Systems, certain of its officers and managers, and joint employer Healthcare Services Group, and alleges that Gate Solution Systems hired the employees to provide cleaning, laundry and dietary assistance services, under the supervision of Healthcare Services Group, at various health care facilities. 

“This case’s outcome should remind employers that the U.S. Department of Labor will take appropriate action, including legal action, to protect workers whose employers deny them proper pay under the Fair Labor Standards Act,” said Solicitor of Labor Seema Nanda. “The Department of Labor will always strive to protect the rights of workers.”

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

In fiscal year 2024, the Wage and Hour Division concluded 2,376 investigations in healthcare industries. These investigations recovered more than $37 million in back wages for nearly 30,000 workers.

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 division confidentially with questions – regardless of immigration status – and the division can speak with callers in more than 200 languages through the agency’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Download the agency’s Timesheet App for iOS and Android devices – available in English and Spanish – to ensure hours and pay are accurate.

Leia o comunicado em português.

Employer:                                    Domo Café Kahala and Domo Café Chinatown

Investigation sites:                4346 Waialae Ave., Honolulu, HI 96816

                                                          1016 Maunakea St., Honolulu, HI 96817

Investigation findings: A U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division investigation found the owner of two Domo Café restaurants in Honolulu and his wife, a manager at the restaurants, illegally retained portions of tips from a tip pool, in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act. The law prohibits an employer, including managers and supervisors, to keep any portion of tips received by employees. Investigators also discovered the employer failed to pay all overtime owed to  one employee.

Wages, Damages Recovered:   $72,054 in tips for 14 employees

                                                                 $79,226 in liquidated damages for 14 workers

                                                                 $7,172 in overtime wages to one employee

Penalty Assessed:                         $2,030 in civil money penalties because of the reckless nature of violations.  

Quote: “It is critically essential for non-management service staff to be able to retain the entirety of the tips they earn so they can offset living expenses and meet their financial goals,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Terence Trotter in Honolulu. “We urge all employers in the restaurant service sector to review their tip retention policies to ensure compliance with the Fair Labor Standards Act.”

Background: Workers can use the division’s Workers Owed Wages search tool to see if they are owed back wages collected by the division. Employers and workers can contact the Wage and Hour Division for assistance at its toll-free number, 1-866-4-US-WAGE. Learn more about the Wage and Hour Division, including the agency’s restaurants compliance assistance toolkit and an overview about the FLSA protections for restaurant workers. Workers and employers alike can help ensure hours worked and pay are accurate by downloading the department’s Android and iOS Timesheet App for free in English or Spanish. 

TULSA, OK – The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a consent judgment and injunction to recover $72,000 in back wages and liquidated damages for 20 workers whose Oklahoma employer misapplied the agriculture exemption to retail workers and did not pay overtime to employees who worked more than 40 hours per week regularly. 

Entered by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma, the Oct. 18, 2024, judgment against Robert K. Cook, III, operator of Rob’s Sod Inc., and Cook’s Farmland Enterprises LLC, operating as Green Acre Sod Farm, Green Acre Sod & Landscape Center and Enterprise Sod and Landscape Center at four locations in Grove, Lawton, Owasso and Stillwater, follows an investigation by the department’s Wage and Hour Division.

 “Employers must be familiar with federal regulations that apply to their business and make certain that workers are paid as the Fair Labor Standards Act requires,” explained Wage and Hour Division District Director Michael Speer in Oklahoma City. “The Wage and Hour Division is determined to hold employers accountable when they fail to meet their legal obligations to pay employees fully for the work they do.”

Green Acre Sod Farm operates on 10,000 acres in Bixby and Haskell, Oklahoma, 6,000 acres on the Red River in Texas and 2,000 acres in Mount Vernon, Missouri. Green Acre Sod has 10 retail stores throughout Oklahoma and Missouri.

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 division’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243), regardless of where they are from. Calls are confidential and the division can speak with callers in more than 200 languages. 

Download the agency’s new Timesheet App for iOS and Android devices, now available in English and Spanish, to ensure hours and pay are accurate. 

Lea en Español                                        

PHOENIX – The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a judgment in federal court ordering a drywall contractor in Arizona to pay more than $1.7 million in back wages and damages to 246 workers.

The action in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona follows an investigation by the department’s Wage and Hour Division finding Bean Drywall Inc., a residential drywall contractor, paid the affected workers either straight-time rates or piece rates for all hours worked but failed to pay employees overtime rates required by the Fair Labor Standards Act.

“Bean Drywall deliberately disguised the theft of hundreds of thousands of dollars in wages earned by hundreds of employees,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Eric Murray in Phoenix. “This employer’s willful and deceitful acts were designed to cover-up their inexcusable behavior.”

In addition to requiring Bean Drywall to pay $875,000 in back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages, the judgment affirms $25,000 in civil money penalties the department assessed for the employer’s willful violations and forbids the contractor from future FLSA violations.

“Unfortunately, our investigations too often find construction employers engaged in illegal schemes to deny workers their hard-earned wages, obstruct enforcement agencies and gain an unfair advantage over their law-abiding competitors,” Murray added. “Since 2019, the Wage and Hour Division has recovered millions of dollars in back wages and damages owed to thousands of Arizona’s construction industry workers.”

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 and how to file an online complaint. For confidential compliance assistance, employees and employers can call the agency’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243), regardless of where they are from. The division can speak with callers in more than 200 languages.

Download the agency’s new Timesheet App for iOS and Android devices – available in English and Spanish – to ensure hours and pay are accurate.

Su v. Bean Drywall, Inc., Michael N. Bean 

Editor's note: This news release has been corrected to remove the names of two individuals who were erroneously listed as defendants in the case. 

Employer:      Faurecia Emissions Control Technologies USA Inc.

                             Fort Wayne, Indiana

Actions:          Fair Labor Standards Act investigation

Findings:        Faurecia Emissions Control Technologies USA Inc., operating as Faurecia Clean Mobility, agreed to pay a total of $101,126 to 260 employees – representing $50,563 in back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages – for shortchanging workers overtime wages. 

An investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division found from the company violated federal law by failing to the following:

• Include hourly shift differentials into employees’ regular rate of pay when calculating overtime. 
• Maintain accurate payroll records to reflect the correct overtime pay for non-exempt employees.
• Display any federal labor posters.

Headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan, Faurecia Emissions Control Technologies USA Inc. is a vehicle exhaust systems manufacturer that produces combustion engines and emissions control systems. 

Quotes: “When employers calculate an employee’s hourly rate for the purposes of overtime, they must include shift differentials and non-discretionary bonuses into that calculation,” said Wage and Hour District Director Aaron Loomis in Indianapolis. “Employers or workers with questions on how to accurately calculate wages due should contact the Wage and Hour Division for compliance assistance.”

Background: Learn more about the Wage and Hour Division, including the Workers Owed Wages search tool to use if you think you may be owed back wages collected by the division and how to file an online complaint. For confidential compliance assistance, employees and employers can call the agency’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243), regardless of where they are from.

The division offers multiple compliance assistance resources, including the EMPLEO alliance 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.

Download the agency’s new Timesheet App for iOS and Android devices – also available in Spanish –to ensure hours and pay are accurate.

Employer:                          Central Park Family Restaurant Inc.

                                                7657 State Road 54 

                                                New Port Richey, FL 34653

Investigation findings: U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division investigators found the restaurant required employees to purchase a uniform shirt, which caused their average weekly wages to fall below the federal minimum wage, a violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act. They also found Central Park used the cash wage rather than the higher Florida state minimum wage to compute servers overtime rate and the employer incorrectly classified some kitchen staff as exempt from overtime. By doing so, the restaurant paid these nonexempt employees a flat weekly salary and did not pay them time and a half for hours worked over 40, a violation of the FLSA overtime requirements. 

Back wages and liquidated damages recovered: The division recovered $87,118 in back wages and liquidated damages for 21 workers.                                                

Quote: “Paying a salary does not automatically excuse employers from their obligation to pay employees required overtime wages. Failure to pay overtime correctly continues to be a common violation among restaurant industry employers,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Nicolas Ratmiroff in Tampa, Florida. “Employers who are unsure of their legal obligations should contact their local Wage and Hour Division office for assistance.”

Background: Employers can contact the Wage and Hour Division at its toll-free number, 1-866-4-US-WAGE. Learn more about the Wage and Hour Division, including its search tool to learn if you are owed back wages collected by the division. Workers and employers alike can help ensure hours worked and pay are accurate by downloading the department’s Android and iOS Timesheet App available for free in English or Spanish.  

Employer:      Lincoln Retirement Villa LLC

                        41040 Lincoln Street

                        Fremont, CA 94538         

Investigation findings: An investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division found the assisted living facility for seniors failed to properly account and pay for all overtime hours worked by 20 employees, in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act. The employer also did not keep accurate payroll records as required by the act.

Wages, Damages Recovered:   $68,672 in back wages for 20 workers 

                                                   $68,672 in liquidated damages for 20 workers

                                                   $8,330 in civil money penalties due to the willful nature of violations

Quote: “Lincoln Retirement Villa not only knowingly underpaid its employees, but the employer made it a systemic business practice,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Francisco Ocampo in San Jose, California. “The Department of Labor will remain vigilant against labor abuses and exploitation by players in this highly problematic industry that employ some of the most vulnerable workers to perform the important work of caring for seniors.”

Background: The violations found in this case exemplify labor compliance problems in the broader healthcare industry. In fiscal year 2024, the department’s Wage and Hour Division conducted more than 2,300 investigations and recovered more than $37.8 million in back wages for nearly 30,000 workers nationwide. 

Workers can use the division’s Workers Owed Wages search tool to see if they are owed back wages collected by the division. Employers and workers can contact the Wage and Hour Division for assistance at its toll-free number, 1-866-4-US-WAGE. Workers and employers alike can help ensure hours worked and pay are accurate by downloading the department’s Android and iOS Timesheet App for free in English or Spanish. 

Lea en Español. 

OXFORD, MS – The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a consent judgment that prevents a Tunica fish farm and processing plant from retaliating against their workers and interfering with federal investigations of their employment practices. 

In August 2023, investigators with the department’s Wage and Hour Division found Battle Fish North and Magnolia Processing Inc. allegedly tried to hide evidence, provide false information and interrupt communications with witnesses in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act. The division also determined Battle Fish North, Magnolia Processing and representatives of the companies told employees they did not have to speak with investigators and threatened retaliation against them if they refused to mislead investigators intentionally. Specifically, the investigation found company managers threatened workers with physical harm, deportation or firing if they communicated honestly, or at all, with investigators.

Granted by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi, the judgment forbids the employers from retaliating against workers and interfering with investigations.  

“The court has drawn a clear line in the sand: No worker should fear retaliation from their employer, and no employer should mistakenly believe they can interfere with a federal investigation without consequences,” explained Regional Solicitor Tremelle Howard in Atlanta. “Intimidating and threating workers is reprehensible, and we will do everything within our power, including litigation, to ensure employers are held accountable.”

The department also obtained an injunction against Battle Fish North, Magnolia Processing and their agents requiring them to read a statement of rights to H-2A temporary agricultural workers annually for three years and to conduct training of senior officials covering the rights of H-2A workers to ensure compliance with the law.

“The Wage and Hour Division is committed to fostering an environment in which workers are safe from retaliation for asserting their rights and speaking up during our investigations,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Audrey Hall in Jackson, Mississippi. “Protecting workers from retaliation is a top priority of the agency. Working with the department’s legal team, we stopped this misconduct in its tracks.”  

The division offers confidential compliance assistance to anyone – regardless of where they are from – with questions about their wages or how to stay in compliance with the law by calling the agency’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). The division can speak with callers in more than 200 languages. 

Learn more about the Wage and Hour Division.