SAN DIEGO – The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered more than $1.4 million for 36 Mexican engineers employed in San Diego by a subsidiary of General Dynamics Corp., one of the world’s largest defense contractors, that paid them in Mexican pesos below the federal minimum wage rate in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act. 

The department’s Wage and Hour Division found National Steel and Shipbuilding Co. - one of three shipyards in the Marine Systems group of General Dynamics that designs and builds auxiliary and support ships for the U.S. Navy - used the L-1B visa program to bring the affected workers to San Diego from a General Dynamics subsidiary in Mexicali, Mexico, to install power plants, engines and machinery; complete structures and finish and furnish ships’ interiors. 

The division’s investigators learned NASSCO paid the engineers in pesos at Mexican pay rates to work an average of 42 hours or more weekly. They also determined the employer wrongfully treated the traveling workers’ per diem and lodging costs as wages and did not maintain accurate time records for them. Investigators found that NASSCO owed the 36 engineers $719,135 in unpaid minimum and overtime wages, plus an equal amount in liquidated damages. 

“General Dynamics NASSCO brought these specialized workers from Mexico to San Diego to build vessels for the U.S. Navy but failed to follow the federal wage regulations that protect anyone working in the U.S.,” explained Wage and Hour Division District Director Min Park-Chung in San Diego. “The Wage and Hour Division works closely with the Consulate General of Mexico in San Diego to educate Mexican nationals about their rights as workers in the U.S. and ensure those who employ them understand and comply with the law.”

In addition to paying the engineers their back wages and damages, NASSCO signed an enhanced compliance agreement that bars them from future federal labor law violations and requires they train employees who manage and supervise foreign workers with non-immigrant visas. NASSCO must provide notice to employees of their rights under FLSA and the Walsh-Healey Public Contracts Act. 

The L-1B visa program enables employers to transfer professional employees with specialized knowledge from one of their affiliated foreign offices to their U.S. offices.

NASSCO is headquartered in San Diego and operates shipyards in Norfolk, Virginia; and Bremerton, Washington; and Mayport in Jacksonville, Florida. Its parent company, General Dynamics, is an aerospace and defense contractor employing more than 100,000 people worldwide and generated $42.3 billion in revenue in 2023. 

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.

Employer:      Liberty Hill Equity Partners LLC 

                              559 Liberty Hill

                              Cincinnati, Ohio 45202

Locations:      Precision Vehicle Holdings LLC

                             4401 Fletcher St.

                             Wayne, MI 48160

                             5402 Moller Road (Fort Wayne Rail Yard)

                             Fort Wayne, IN 46806

Investigation findings: An investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division found Liberty Hill Equity Partners LLC, the Cincinnati-based operator of Precision Vehicle Holdings in Michigan and the Fort Wayne Rail Yard in Indiana, did not include non-discretionary bonuses in employees’ regular rate of pay when calculating overtime pay, a violation of Fair Labor Standards Act. The company provides logistics and terminal operations for newly manufactured vehicles.

Division investigators identified the employer’s violation when reviewing payroll records for employees in Michigan and Indiana and have since expanded the investigation to include all hourly nonexempt employees at 10 of the company’s locations in Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee.

Liberty Hill Equity Partners LLC traces its beginnings to the Hatfield Coal Company, founded in 1882. The company later became River Trading Company, a holding company, in 2014 and began adding new businesses. In 2019, the company rebranded as Liberty Hill Equity Partners LLC.

Resolution: The company paid a total of $56,884, representing $28,442 in back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages for 234 employees. 

Quote: “Inaccurate overtime calculations are among the most common violations identified in our investigations. Employers can avoid the costly consequences of their errors by contacting the Wage and Hour Division for assistance or by reviewing our overtime compliance assistance materials online,” explained Wage and Hour District Director Aaron Loomis in Indianapolis.

Background: Learn more about the Wage and Hour Division, overtime pay, 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.

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

ATLANTA – Working more than 40 hours a week, a woman providing care to people with disabilities in Augusta thought her employer should be paying her overtime wages. In time, she found the courage to contact the U.S. Department of Labor and soon learned her hunch was worth $11,000 in back wages.

Unfortunately, workers deprived of their full legal wages - either by an employer’s mistake or intention - are all too common, especially in industries like healthcare.

In an effort to educate employers, workers and others in the Southeast’s care industries, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division is offering an online panel conversation on Nov. 20 to discuss rights, protections and obligations for workers and employers in the home care and nursing care industries. The event will be presented in coordination with the department’s Women’s Bureau, and will include representatives from OSHA, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the IRS. The conversation coincides with National Home Care and Hospice Month in November.

“Caring for those who care: Compliance tips for the home health and nursing care industries” is part of an ongoing education and enforcement initiative designed to improve compliance among employers in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. Open to the public, participants will discuss federal protections governing employment of care industry workers, offer compliance tips and share free resources. Attendance is free, but registration is required.

“Our ability to provide care for our nation’s most vulnerable people relies on truly dedicated workers whose concern and expertise demands they be paid all of their hard-earned wages,” said Wage and Hour Division Regional Administrator Juan Coria in Atlanta. “Unfortunately, care workers are some of the most vulnerable and underpaid workers in the U.S., which is why the U.S. Department of Labor is committed to ensuring care workers receive all of the wages they have earned.” 

In fiscal year 2024, the Wage and Hour Division concluded nearly 400 investigations in healthcare industries and recovered more than $4.1 million in back wages and liquidated damages for over 2,400 workers in the Southeast. In addition, the division assessed more than $115,000 in civil money penalties to healthcare employers in the Southeast region to address violations found. 

The initiative focuses resources on educating 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. It also targets the misclassification of workers as independent contractors, a common illegal practice that leads to workers being deprived of legally earned wages and other protections.

“This presentation is just one part of our ongoing work to reduce wage violations and address misclassification of workers as independent contractors in care industries. For those unable to attend, we remind everyone that many compliance resources are just a few clicks away online. These tools are available at no cost to employers and workers. If needed, our staff and outreach professionals are also ready to assist,” Coria added. 

Register for “Caring for those who care: Compliance tips for the home health and nursing care industries.”

While this presentation will not be recorded, the division offers multiple compliance assistance resources to help employers avoid violations. For information about laws enforced by the division, use the toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). The division will confidentially address questions – regardless of where workers are from – and the division can speak with callers in more than 200 languages. 

Learn more about the Wage and Hour Division and its searchable workers owed wages database. Help ensure hours worked and pay are accurate by downloading the department’s Android and iOS Timesheet App for free, available in English or Spanish.

SACRAMENTO, CA – More than 700,000 people work to provide essential home health or personal care to older adults, people with disabilities or special needs in California and, despite their dedication to others’ needs, federal investigators find too many industry employers deceptively denying these hard-working people their full and rightful wages under the law. 

The problem extends to the broader healthcare industry where more than 2,300 investigations by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division recovered more than $37.8 million in back wages for nearly 30,000 workers nationwide in fiscal year 2024. The division also assessed employers with more than $2.8 million in penalties for violations of federal labor regulations.

Just weeks into the new fiscal year 2025, the division is announcing the combined recovery of $863,860 in back wages and damages for 58 workers employed by four residential care providers in California that denied them minimum wage, overtime or both, and violated the Fair Labor Standards Act.

“Make no mistake, the Department of Labor is committed to stopping the exploitation of workers by residential care industry employers and holding them accountable for their unscrupulous employment practices,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Cesar Avila in Sacramento. “Our investigations find many of care workers harmed are women and low-wage earners, who can least afford to be denied their full wages.”

Specifically, the recoveries were made after investigations of the following employers:

• Brisbane Guest Home Inc., a residential care provider for persons with developmental disabilities with three locations in Stockton, failed to pay workers required overtime pay for hours over 40 in a workweek. The division recovered $483,185 in wages for 11 workers and assessed $7,546 in penalties.
• The owner of six residential care facilities for the elderly in the Sacramento region did not pay overtime wages owed to 44 employees at Laguna Village RCFE, Laguna Springs RCFE and Signature Living on Lavelli Way in Elk Grove; Havenwood RCFE and Capital Senior Care in Sacramento; and Signature Living RCFE in Rancho Cordova. In addition to recovering $306,066 in back wages and damages for the workers, the division assessed $18,326 in penalties.
• Jackson’s Facilities Inc., an adult home care provider also in Sacramento, failed to pay one employee for all hours worked, made illegal deductions not specified in the contract and denied overtime pay for hours over 40 in a workweek. The division recovered $46,623 in back wages in this case.
• Timeless Homecare Inc., a home healthcare provider for individuals with disabilities that operates as Amada Senior Care in Davis, paid some but not all overtime due to two employees for hours over 40 in a workweek. The division recovered $27,986 in wages and damages and assessed $2,058 in penalties.

These investigations are part of a wider effort by the division to hold violators accountable and to provide outreach and education to employers, workers and other stakeholders to raise awareness and prevent violations. To assist employers, the division offers many compliance assistance resources to ensure lawful employment practices.

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 a complaint. For confidential compliance assistance, workers 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 division’s Timesheet App for iOS and Android devices – available in English and Spanish – to ensure hours and pay are accurate.

This news release is also available in Tagalog.

Participant:   Travis County District Attorney’s Office

Address:         416 West 11th St.

Austin, TX 78701

Description: The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division renewed a memorandum of understanding with the Travis County District Attorney’s Office to expand and improve the protection of the county’s workforce, enforcement of wage laws and level the playing field for responsible employers. 

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

The division enforces the federal minimum wage, overtime pay, recordkeeping and child labor requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act. The Travis County District Attorney’s Office is responsible for enforcing labor laws and regulations related to employment security and workers’ compensation.

Duration: Initially signed November 2021, the renewed MOU has a five -year term.

Quote: “By renewing our agreement with the Travis County District Attorney’s Office we are re-committed in our efforts to protect workers from exploitation,” said Wage and Hour Division Deputy Regional Administrator Nathan Barrow in Dallas. “This MOU allows our agencies to address serious challenges and to work together to educate employers and better serve the public.” 

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. 

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WYNCOTE, PA – The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a consent judgment requiring a Wyncote home healthcare agency and its owner, Dominique Conner, to pay 196 direct care employees a total of $810,320 in back wages and liquidated damages for routinely not paying workers overtime rates and willfully violating federal law.

The consent judgment, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, follows an investigation by the department’s Wage and Hour Division that found Wyncote Wellness LLC routinely violated the minimum wage and overtime provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

The investigation revealed that Wyncote Wellness regularly failed to pay employees the required overtime rate and instead paid employees, who had multiple clients, with separate checks for each client they worked with each week. Instead of combining hours worked in a week to calculate overtime rates, Wyncote Wellness paid overtime after employees worked for more than 40 hours with each client. Additionally, the department found that employees frequently recorded more hours than they were paid by the employer and were not compensated for travel time between clients. The employer also failed to preserve records of hours worked, including travel time between clients when employees worked with multiple clients in a day. 

“Home healthcare workers provide vital services to the most vulnerable members of our communities, and their work deserves respect and fair compensation,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director James Cain in Philadelphia. “This enforcement action will help to ensure workers are paid their total earnings and remind other employers of their obligations under the law.”

In addition to back wages and liquidated damages, the consent judgment requires Wyncote Wellness to pay a civil money penalty the department assessed for the willfulness of the violations.

“Our efforts resulted in securing the consent judgment and recovering hard-earned wages for the home health workers. This case demonstrates the U.S. Department of Labor’s commitment to pursuing litigation when employers fail to comply with the law,” said Regional Solicitor Samantha Thomas, in Philadelphia.

The division’s Philadelphia District Office conducted the investigation and the department’s Office of the Solicitor in Philadelphia filed the complaint and consent judgment.

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 their regular 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. The division offers confidential assistance to anyone with questions about how to comply 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, regardless of their immigration status. Download the agency’s Timesheet App for iOS and Android devices – free and available in English and Spanish – to ensure hours and pay are accurate.

NEW YORK – The U.S. Department of Labor recovered a total of $877,834 in back wages and fringe benefits from three Long Island contractors for 36 employees who were underpaid for their work on two New York projects funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. 

The New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development conducted initial investigations of Discover Electric Inc., EMG Industrial Chimney Inc. and QNCC Electrical Contracting Corp., finding each violated the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts. The three subcontractors subsequently appealed the city’s findings.

After HUD concurred with the original findings, the contractors still refused to pay and HUD referred the findings to the department’s Wage and Hour Division. The division’s independent investigations confirmed the contractors’ DBRA violations as follows:

• Discover Electric Inc., a Rockville Centre electrical contractor, categorized 11 employees improperly as jobbers, maintenance and repair workers rather than as electricians, paying them less than the required prevailing wages and benefits for electricians. The division determined the employer owed the affected employees $43,984 in wages and $550,321 in fringe benefits. 
• EMG Industrial Chimney Inc., a West Babylon construction contractor, failed to pay $69,252 in required prevailing wages and fringe benefits to 21 employees categorized improperly as service fitters rather than for their work as insulators and sheet metal workers. 
• QNCC Electrical Contracting Corp., a Port Washington contractor, failed to pay full fringe benefits to four apprentices, an explicit DBRA requirement when, as here, an applicable apprenticeship program does not specify fringe benefits. The division recovered $214,277 in fringe benefits owed to the affected employees.

“The Wage and Hour Division works closely with agencies such as the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development to enforce the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts and ensure that workers are paid full wages and benefits,” explained Wage and Hour Division District Director Jorge Alvarez in New York. “These cases demonstrate that employers cannot circumvent their legal obligations or avoid paying the wages and benefits rightfully due to their employees on federally funded construction projects.”

All three contractors agreed to comply with the Davis-Bacon Act and Davis-Bacon and Related Acts in all future contracts that are subject to the acts. 

“Workers deserve fair compensation for their labor,” said U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Regional Administrator Alicka Ampry-Samuel in New York. “HUD works closely with federal, state, and local agencies to ensure that companies receiving federal funds comply with Davis-Bacon wage requirements. Everyone deserves to be paid fairly. At a time when we face a housing shortage, it’s crucial to support workers who are helping to expand the supply of affordable housing.” 

The investigations identified violations by Discover Electric and EMG Industrial Chimney at a 463 West St. worksite and at a QNCC Electrical Contracting Corp. worksite at 10 Monroe St., both in New York City. The division’s New York City District Office conducted the investigations. Learn more about the requirements for federal contractors.

The Wage and Hour Division has scheduled a series of online seminars in 2024 and 2025 on prevailing wage compliance. Attendance is free but registration is required. To participate, use one of the following links:

Register for the Nov. 13-14, 2024 seminar

Register for the June 25-26, 2025, seminar.

Register for the March 18-19, 2025, seminar.

Register for the Sept. 24-25, 2025, seminar. 

Learn more about the Wage and Hour Division and the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts, 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 Timesheet App for iOS and Android devices – available in English and Spanish – to ensure hours and pay are accurate.

Employer:      T.G.H. Management Group Inc., operating as Temple Garden Homes

                        5120 Baldwin Ave.

                        Temple City, CA 91780

 Investigation findings: An investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division found the home care employer, operator of four Temple Garden Homes locations for people with developmental disabilities, again failing to pay required overtime pay rates to 70 employees for all hours over 40 in a workweek in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act. The division also learned the employer did not keep accurate records as required.

Wages, Damages Recovered:   $72,837 in back wages for 70 workers 

                                                   $72,837 in liquidated damages for 70 workers

                                                   $21,840 in civil money penalties for willful and repeat violations

Quote: “For the third time, Temple Garden Homes willfully violated the labor rights and trust of employees caring for our communities’ most vulnerable people,” said Wage and Hour Division Assistant District Director Skarleth Kozlo in West Covina, California. “The U.S. Department of Labor will protect workers against repeat offenders and bad employers such as this one.”

Background: Two prior Wage and Hour investigations found the employer committed similar overtime pay violations. These investigations led the division to recover a combined $102,694 in unpaid wages for 50 employees and the assessment of $9,500 in penalties against Temple Garden Homes.

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. 

This news brief is also availabe in Tagalog. 

Employer:   Crystal Enterprises Inc.

Employer address:    10837 Lanham Severn Road, Glenn Dale, MD 20769

Investigation findings: A U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division investigation determined that Crystal Enterprises Inc. failed to pay the required prevailing wage and health and welfare benefits to employees working at a U.S. Air Force training center dining facility on Eglin Air Force Base in Florida, a violation of the McNamara-O’Hara Service Contract Act. By doing so, the employer also paid workers lower rates of pay for holidays and sick leave and vacation time used. 

Recoveries: $109,127 in back wages for 55 employees.

Quote: “Government contracts come with stipulations to ensure workers are paid correctly, and employers must adhere to those requirements when bidding on and obtaining those contracts. This includes ensuring the proper job classifications and rates of pay are followed,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Vilma Bell in Orlando, Florida. “These workers provided the critical labor needed to feed service men and women on this military base. They deserve to take home every dollar they earn.”

“Employers with questions about the standards required of them when they enter into federally funded contracts can contact us for help or find government contract compliance assistance information on our website,” Bell added. 

Background: The U.S. Air Force subcontracted Crystal Enterprises Inc. to perform full food services at the training center dining facility on Eglin Air Force Base, Florida. 

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. 

The Service Contract Act requires contractors and subcontractors performing services on prime contracts in excess of $2,500 to pay their workers employed under the contract no less than the local prevailing wages and fringe benefits for corresponding work on similar projects in the area.

Employer:                              Finichel LLC, operating as Finichel Cleaning Services 

Investigation site:                  801 Mohawk Drive

West Columbia, SC 29169

Investigation findings: Investigators with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division found a South Carolina cleaning services provider misclassified 59 workers as independent contractors, resulting in the company paying employees straight-time rates for all hours worked over 40 instead of the time-and-a-half premium for overtime hours as required by the Fair Labor Standards Act. The employer also failed to keep records of the amount of time worked by employees as required by law.

Back wages and liquidated damages recovered: $53,044 for 59 workers.                          

Quote: “Misclassifying employees as independent contractors undermines workers’ rights,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Jamie Benefiel in Columbia, South Carolina. “If workers are misclassified as independent contractors, they don’t get paid overtime or have access to employer-provided health and retirement benefits. They also don’t have access to family and medical leave.”

“If workers or employers need help understanding this, they should reach out to the U.S. Department of Labor or go to our website and get the information they need,” Benefiel added.

Background: Finichel Cleaning Services is a residential and commercial cleaning service that serves the Columbia area and employs approximately 40 workers. 

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 regular rate of pay for all hours worked over 40 in a workweek. Learn more about the Wage and Hour Division, employee misclassification and workers’ rights, including a search tool to use if you think you may be owed back wages collected by the division. 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. 

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