NEW YORK – The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York has entered a consent judgment ordering a Syracuse gas station and convenience store and a Jamesville pizzeria and convenience store and their owner to pay $56,364 in back wages and an equal amount of $56,364 in liquidated damages to 12 employees denied overtime wages.

The court’s action follows an investigation by the department’s Wage and Hour Division and litigation by its Office of the Solicitor that concluded Liberty Gas Station and Convenience Store LLC in Syracuse, and Liberty Pizza & Convenience Inc. in Jamesville, and operator Huseyin Turan failed to pay workers overtime pay when they worked over 40 hours in a workweek. The workers regularly worked between 50 and 60 hours in a workweek. The investigation also found the employer failed to keep accurate records in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Liberty Gas Station and Turan also agreed to pay $7,272 in civil money penalties assessed by the department.

The department’s investigation and litigation revealed that the employers – who paid employees only straight time wages – attempted to conceal their failure to pay overtime through multiple schemes. They paid employees by check and cash, grossly understating the amount of hours worked on their payroll records, and required employees to sign false records before distributing their pay. They also paid some employees who worked over a total of 40 hours at both Syracuse and Jamesville locations with separate checks. Even after litigation began, the employers destroyed time records, resulting in the district judge issuing sanctions against them, ordering that the jury would be instructed to draw an adverse inference against the employers.

“Paying only straight-time wages to workers who are entitled to overtime compensation and then trying to evade liability by destroying time records and creating fake documents are egregious violations of the law,” said Regional Solicitor of Labor Jeffrey Rogoff in New York City. “The U.S. Department of Labor is committed to ensuring workers are properly paid and will pursue all appropriate legal actions, including filing suit in federal court to hold unscrupulous employers accountable for wage theft.”

“The Wage and Hour Division finds violations like these are all too common in the convenience store and gas station industry. Through this scheme to conceal its unlawful pay practices, the employer harmed these essential workers by depriving them of their hard earned wages,” said Wage and Hour District Director Jay Rosenblum in Albany, New York. “The Wage and Hour Division is available online and by phone to help workers and employers understand their respective rights and responsibilities under the law.”

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.

The division’s Albany District Office conducted the investigation. Senior Trial Attorneys Alexander Kondo and Amy Tai of the New York Regional Office of the Solicitor litigated the case for the department.

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.

WASHINGTON – As the nation concludes National Home Care and Hospice Month, the U.S. Department of Labor’s work on behalf of the country’s professional caregivers continues with the launch of an ongoing education, outreach and enforcement initiative to ensure their employers pay them their rightful wages and honor all protections afforded them by law.

Disproportionally women of color and among the nation’s lowest paid workers, caregivers were among millions of frontline workers – often exposed to the risks of coronavirus infection – who labored through the pandemic as they tended to the needs of the sick, elderly and children.

“Professional caregivers have always been and continue to be some of our nation’s most essential workers. We look to them to care for us and our families and they deserve our appreciation, respect and protection,” said Acting Wage and Hour Administrator Jessica Looman. “The education, outreach and enforcement initiative we are announcing today will help ensure the rights of all workers are protected and employers who flout the law are held accountable.”

Led by the department’s Wage and Hour Division, the initiative focuses resources on educating essential care workers and their communities about their rights to minimum wage and overtime pay and how to file a complaint if they believe their rights have been violated. The initiate will also target misclassification of workers as independent contractors, an illegal practice that may deprive workers of legally earned wages, and other protections.

As part of its outreach component, the effort will also focus on developing and strengthening partnerships with state and local agencies, and other stakeholders, to ensure employers fully understand their legal responsibilities, that workers know their rights and both realize that the division is ready to answer their questions or address their concerns.

The initiative will also incorporate a strong enforcement component to encourage employer compliance and reduce violations by industry employers. In fiscal year 2021, the division recovered more than $38.7 million in back wages for healthcare industry workers, and identified misclassification of workers as independent contractors as an increasingly common violation cited by investigators.

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.

BIRMINGHAM, AL – U.S. Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh stood with workers and local officials in Birmingham, Alabama, today to announce the department’s final rule that implements Executive Order 14026 to increase the hourly minimum wage for employees on federal contracts to $15 per hour beginning Jan. 30, 2022. President Biden signed the order on April 27, 2021.

At Kelly Ingram Park, the Secretary joined Rep. Terri Sewell and Mayor Randall Woodfin to meet with area workers who talked about how the new rule will help their communities. These workers included:

• Jamie Brown, a customer service representative at Maximus, an IT company in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.
• Carolyn Morris, a janitor at Maxwell Air Force base in Montgomery, Alabama for more than 30 years and a United Steelworkers Local 9504 member.
• Ann Jones, a floor technician at Fort Benning, Georgia and a Laborers’ International Union of North America member.

“Being in Birmingham to announce this transformative action gave me a great opportunity to meet a community of workers who have been a driving force in the fight to raise the minimum wage,” said Secretary Walsh. “Now, the federal government is doing its part to ensure that workers on federal contracts are earning a decent wage for the invaluable services they provide to keep our government running.”

Learn more about the final rule to increase the hourly minimum wage for employees on federal contracts.

WASHINGTON –The U.S. Department of Labor today announced a final rule that implements Executive Order 14026 to increase the hourly minimum wage for employees on federal contracts beginning Jan. 30, 2022. President Biden signed the order on April 27, 2021.

The rule applies in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and specified U.S. territories, and does the following:

• Increases the hourly minimum wage for workers performing work on or in connection with covered federal contracts to $15 beginning Jan. 30, 2022. 
• Continues to index the federal contract minimum wage in future years to inflation.
• Eliminates the tipped minimum wage for federal contract employees by 2024. 
• Ensures a $15 minimum wage for workers with disabilities performing work on or in connection with covered contracts.
• Restores minimum wage protections to outfitters and guides operating on federal lands. 

“The workers helped by Executive Order 14026 and today’s final rule do essential work on our nation’s behalf. They build and repair the federal infrastructure, clean and maintain our national parks, monuments and other federal facilities, care for our veterans, and ensure federal workers and military service members are provided with safe  and nutritious food,” said U.S. Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh. “Implementing this Executive Order improves the economic security of these workers and their families, many of whom are women and people of color.” 

Executive Order 14026 applies to new contracts, and renewals and extensions of existing contracts, beginning Jan. 30, 2022.  

“In addition to promoting efficiency in federal contracting, the implementation of Executive Order 14026 has other benefits,” said Wage and Hour Division Acting Administrator Jessica Looman. “The final rule adds value for taxpayers by boosting worker productivity and reducing employee turnover and absenteeism. It also allows federal contractors to retain top talent, and reduce recruiting and training costs.” 

Learn more about protections for federal contractors or more about the Wage and Hour Division. You may also call toll-free 1-866-4US-WAGE to speak directly and confidentially to a trained Wage and Hour Division professional. The division protects workers regardless of immigration status, and can communicate with workers in more than 200 languages.

DES MOINES – The U.S. Department of Labor and the State of Iowa have signed a five-year Memorandum of Understanding to provide opportunities for the department’s Wage and Hour Division and the state’s Workforce Development agency to conduct joint investigations and outreach, and share training materials and other information as appropriate to ensure Iowa workers’ rights and wages are protected.

“The U.S. Department of Labor and Iowa Workforce Development are committed to working together proactively to provide compliance assistance and worker rights information to Iowa’s workers and employers,” said Wage and Hour Regional Administrator Michael Lazzeri in Chicago. “This agreement will help to promote greater engagement and dialogue to hold employers who violate the law accountable and protect the rights of 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.

Learn more about Iowa Workforce Development.

LODI, NJ – A U.S. Department of Labor administrative law judge ordered a northern New Jersey trucking company contracted by the U.S. Postal Service to haul mail in the New York City metro-area to pay $549,209 in back wages to 46 drivers after a U.S. Department of Labor investigation found wage, benefits and recordkeeping violations over a three-year period. The judge further ordered the company, its owner, and a second related company debarred from federal contracting for 3 years.

The department’s Wage and Hour Division found that Petrillo Trucking Inc. and owner Luisa Petrillo failed to pay their service employees the minimum prevailing wage and fringe benefits rates as required in federal contracts under the McNamara O’Hara Service Contract Act. Among the multiple SCA violations, the employers paid drivers on a per trip, rather than per hour basis, resulting in unpaid or underpaid hours. Investigators also found the employer failed to maintain adequate and accurate records as the law requires. 

“Employers awarded federal contracts must certify that all employees receive the wages and benefits they are rightfully due,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Paula Ruffin in Mountainside, New Jersey. “Our investigation determined that Petrillo Trucking Inc. failed to pay their drivers as required, and the U.S. Department of Labor took action to ensure the workers received their hard-earned wages.” 

The department’s Office of Administrative Law Judges in Boston approved consent findings and ordered Petrillo Trucking Inc. to pay the back wages owed; and debarred the company, its owner and a second related company.

“Petrillo Trucking Inc. tried to evade the law by paying drivers per trip without regard to actual hours worked and paying others off the books,” said Regional Solicitor of Labor Jeffrey Rogoff in New York. “This agreement and related order sends a signal to federal contractors – and mail haul contractors in particular – that the U.S. Department of Labor will pursue legal action vigorously against federal contractors seeking to short change their employees and to gain advantage against law abiding competitors. This agreement ensures that these workers will be paid all of the wages owed them for their hard work.”

The division’s Northern New Jersey District Office conducted the investigation. Attorneys David Rutenberg, Ndidi Menkiti and Judy Marblestone of the department’s regional Office of the Solicitor in New York litigated the case for the department.

Based in Lodi, Petrillo Trucking Inc. is a privately owned, specialized freight trucking company that provides mail-hauling services to the U.S.P.S.

For more information about the SCA or 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.

OREM, UT – The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered $32,356 in overtime back wages for eight workers, and identified child labor violations after its investigation of an Orem employer whose business operates as a bakery, restaurant and grocery store.

Investigators with the department’s Wage and Hour Division found El Mexicano Market Inc. paid the workers a salary at straight-time rates in an attempt to avoid overtime pay. By doing so, the employer failed to pay overtime when the employees worked more than 40 hours in a work week, a violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

The division also determined the employer allowed a minor to use a power-driven baler to wrap and bind cardboard. Federal child labor law prohibits employers from allowing minors to operate power-driven balers, compactors and paper-products machines. The division assessed El Mexicano Market Inc. $1,864 in civil money penalties for that violation.

“Workers are entitled to receive all of their hard-earned wages and a safe working environment,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Kevin Hunt in Salt Lake City. “This investigation found that El Mexicano Market wrongly denied overtime to some employees and exposed a young worker to dangerous working conditions that could have resulted in serious injury or worse. We encourage all employers to review their pay practices and child labor protections to avoid similar violations.”

El Mexicano Market Inc. in Orem is the company’s second location. Its first in Los Angeles sells groceries, meats and deli products, and offers catering services.

In fiscal year 2021, the Wage and Hour Division recovered more than $34.7 million in back wages for workers in the food service industry. During the same period, investigators found hazardous occupations’ violations by employers involved more than 500 minors.

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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MANCHESTER, NH – A Vermont-based insulation and roofing contractor’s disregard of federal laws has led to the recovery of $163,492 in back wages and civil money penalties to resolve violations of the H-2B guest worker visa program and Fair Labor Standards Act. The company violated protections for seasonal workers employed under H-2B guest worker visas, as well as its year-round, non H-2B workers.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division investigation revealed that Dayco Inc. violated the H-2B guest worker visa program’s prohibition against preferential treatment by including a drug-testing requirement in employment advertised to non-H-2B workers while not requiring workers employed under the H-2B guest worker visa program to undergo such testing. Dayco also failed to disclose the availability of worker housing to prospective non-H-2B workers.

Additionally, in their visa petition for H-2B guest workers, Dayco indicated workers would be employed as “helpers – roofers,” but employed them in other job classifications, such as roofers, requiring higher rates of pay. The division also found the employer paid H-2B guest workers less than the required prevailing wage for their approved and advertised occupations while employed in Vermont and New Hampshire. Dayco also failed to include travel hours in the total number of weekly work hours when calculating overtime, a FLSA violation. Dayco failed to pay the full amount of workers’ inbound and outbound transportation and subsistence costs as required and did not post the H-2B employee rights poster.

Dayco paid $31,236 in FLSA back wages to 26 workers and $6,670 in FLSA civil money penalties to the department. Additionally, under a settlement agreement and consent findings approved by the department’s Office of Administrative Law Judges, Dayco paid $97,430 in H-2B back wages to 12 guest workers and $28,156 in H-2B civil money penalties. The consent findings also require Dayco to comply in all respects with the requirements of the H-2B guest worker visa program in the future, and specifically meet its wage obligations as agreed and attested to in all of its Applications for Temporary Employment Certification.

“When employers fail to follow the H-2B guest worker visa program rules, it shortchanges workers, denying them job opportunities and proper compensation. In this case, the employer put non-H-2B workers at a disadvantage by creating unequal requirements for employment,” said Wage and Hour District Director Steven McKinney in Manchester, New Hampshire. “Employers can prevent such violations, and we encourage employers and employees with questions about the H-2B guest worker visa program or the Fair Labor Standards Act to contact the Wage and Hour Division.”

“Employers who disregard compliance with the H-2B guest worker visa program and the Fair Labor Standards Act harm workers and cheat competitors who abide by the law,” said regional Solicitor of Labor Maia Fisher in Boston, Massachusetts. “The U.S. Department of Labor will take legal action to ensure job applicants and workers are recruited and paid properly.”

Based in Sharon, Vermont, Dayco Inc. is an insulation and roofing contractor that serves commercial, industrial and residential customers throughout Vermont and New Hampshire.

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 H-2B guest worker visa program, 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, and use its search tool if you think you may be owed back wages collected by the division.

En Español

MAXTON, NC – Federal laws exist to ensure employees who work on projects funded by public tax dollars receive all of their legally earned wages and fringe benefits. When a Maxton training contractor’s pay practices shortchanged 35 workers employed at Fort Bragg and other military installations, the U.S. Department of Labor took action.

An investigation by the department’s Wage and Hour Division found that Gryphon Group Security Services LLC wrongly assumed some office employees were not entitled to overtime pay and paid them straight time when they worked over 40 hours in a workweek, a violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act’s overtime requirements. Investigators also determined Gryphon wrongly assumed its technical instructors were not subject to protections in the Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards and McNamara-O’Hara Service Contract acts. By doing so, the employer failed to pay them overtime when they worked more than 40 hours in a workweek and applicable health and welfare, and holiday wages, as the laws required.

The division recovered $228,224 in back wages and fringe benefits for 35 affected workers as a result of its investigation.

“Employers who enter into federal contracts understand they must pay employees, whose work the contract funds, all of the wages and benefits these employees are legally due,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Richard Blaylock in Raleigh, North Carolina. “Taxpayers expect federal contractors to comply with all laws governing the contract and, when they don’t, the U.S. Department of Labor will hold these companies accountable and prevent them from gaining an unfair advantage over competitors who abide by the law.”

The U.S. Special Operations Command awarded Gryphon Group Security Solutions a contract to train soldiers at Fort Bragg and other military installations on equipment use, evasive and tactical driving and medical evacuation.

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.

AUSTIN, TX – Officials from the U.S. Department of Labor and the Travis County District Attorney’s Office signed a Memorandum of Understanding to expand and improve the protection of Travis County’s workforce, enforcement of wage laws and level the playing field for responsible employers. 

The memo represents an effort by both agencies to collaborate more effectively on areas of common interest, including sharing training materials, conducting joint investigations and enforcement actions, and sharing information as appropriate for their respective responsibilities.

“This agreement increases the impact of our work. Jointly, our agencies can protect more workers, educate more employers, and send a strong message to those who don’t play by the rules,” said Southwest Wage and Hour Division Administrator Betty Campbell in Dallas. “It’s a win for workers, businesses and taxpayers in Travis County when we pool our resources to improve the efficiency and value of our services.”

“Our office is excited to enter into this agreement with the U.S. Department of Labor,” said Travis County District Attorney José P. Garza. “We know that addressing economic stability is critical to promoting public safety in our community. This agreement between our agencies will help our office seek justice for victims of wage theft in Travis County and ensure that employers who engage in criminal conduct are held accountable.”

For more information about the Fair Labor Standards Act 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.