CLINTON, MD – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division recovered $531,173 in back wages for 45 ironworkers subcontracted for federally funded construction at the National Institute of Health in Bethesda. Investigators found their employer failed to pay them the required prevailing wages and benefits for ironworkers.

The investigation revealed that Clinton-based HMW LLC falsified its certified payrolls and hid the fact that the employees were making at least $14 an hour less, per hour, than the projects required wage for ironworkers. The subcontractor also failed to maintain proper records.

The department executed a Debarment Consent Agreement with the firm HMW LLC; the firm’s owner and president, Roxanne Harris; and its operations manager, Robert Harris, as a result of serious labor standards violations related to the firm’s performance on the NIH contract.  Under this agreement, the debarred parties will remain ineligible to bid on federal contracts covered by the Davis Bacon and Related Acts for a period of three years.

“Employers awarded federal contracts are aware of requirements such as the Davis Bacon and Related Acts and the Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act, and must certify that all employees on the job site receive the wages and benefits they are rightfully due,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director John DuMont in Pittsburgh. “In this case, HMW failed to do so and we stepped in to require the company to pay its ironworkers all of their legally earned wages.” 

HMW LLC was a subcontractor for a large scale, multi-level renovation project at the NIH’s Clinical Center Complex.

The prime contractors on federally funded projects are required to ensure all on-site laborers are paid at least the locally prevailing wage rates – including fringe benefits – and that subcontractors comply with the law. Contractors and subcontractors on these projects are also required to pay covered workers weekly and submit certified weekly payroll records to the federal agency contracting the work. In addition, they must post the Davis-Bacon poster (WH-1321) on the job site so that workers are aware of their protections.

For more information about the DBRA 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.

CENTRAL, LA – An East Baton Rouge Parish landscape and pest control company failed to disclose housing deductions in its H-2B application and failed to pay for all meals during travel periods for 133 guest workers, a U.S. Department of Labor investigation has found. 

An investigation by the department’s Wage and Hour Division has recovered $20,695 in back wages from, and assessed $17,459 in penalties to Corporate Green LLC. The corporation owns and operates several area companies including Big Bark Tree Care, Bug Ninja Pest Control, Great With Tools and Green Seasons. Its workers perform pest control, landscaping and other exterior services for commercial and residential customers. 

“Employers who use the H-2B guest worker program for temporary employment must comply with all of its terms and conditions,” said Wage and Hour District Director Troy Mouton in New Orleans. “By failing to satisfy all wage-related obligations, an employer reduces their labor costs and may gain an unfair advantage over other employers. All employees and guest workers must be treated and paid equally, consistent with the terms and conditions of the laws that govern their employment.”

Corporate Green LLC was certified to employ temporary non-agricultural workers under the H-2B visa program. At the time of this investigation, the company employed 95 workers from Mexico under the H-2B program and 58 U.S. workers.

For more information about H-2B 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.

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MARIANNA, FL – A state-funded center for persons with developmental disabilities in northern Florida will pay $304,466 in back wages to 163 workers due to incomplete training and recordkeeping in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

The Agency for Persons with Disabilities – operating as Sunland Center – holds certificates authorizing special minimum wage rates for workers with disabilities affecting the jobs they perform as allowed by Section 14(c) of the FLSA. The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division found that the center failed to ensure all workers received the career counseling information and referrals required by the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act. For failing to comply with these requirements, the employer must pay the workers the full federal minimum wage for every hour they worked. The investigation also noted that payroll records did not show amounts paid to employees, a violation of FLSA recordkeeping requirements.

“To participate in the federal special minimum wage program, employers must provide the required counseling and referral opportunities to ensure workers with disabilities have every opportunity to reach their potential,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Wildalí De Jesús in Orlando, Florida. “Sunland Center’s failures to meet these requirements led to costly violations of laws that ensure all employees receive proper wages for their work.”

Located in Marianna, many of Sunland Center’s 208 resident clients are employed by the center for work in the community in custodial, landscaping and recycling occupations. Funded primarily through the state’s general appropriations, Sunland Center directs revenue from the services into the clients’ welfare trust fund.

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.

PENSACOLA, FL – Employees at a Pensacola car dealership received more money in their paychecks after a U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division investigation found the auto dealer failed to pay minimum wage and overtime as required under the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Division investigators found Step One Automotive Group BC PN LLC – operating as Step One Automotive – violated the FLSA when it failed to ensure that auto detailers who were paid a flat-rate per vehicle received at least the required federal minimum wage for each hour of work. The employer also failed to pay detailers required overtime when they worked over 40 hours in a workweek.

Investigators also found that Step One paid other employees flat salaries regardless of the number of hours they worked. By doing so, the employer failed to pay overtime when employees worked over 40 hours per week. Additionally, Step One failed to include bonuses earned in the calculation of overtime rates. As a result, they paid workers less than the overtime rate required by law. The division determined that the employer failed to maintain accurate payroll records for the auto detailers and other employees paid on a salary basis, in violation of FLSA recordkeeping requirements.

Step One Automotive has paid $36,320 in back wages to 16 workers.

“Automotive workers continued to provide essential services during the pandemic. These workers deserve the protections the Fair Labor Standards Act affords them and must receive all the pay they have legally earned each workweek,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Wildalí De Jesús in Orlando, Florida. “We urge employers to contact us with questions so that together, we can make certain that employees are fairly compensated for their work and that all employers compete on a level playing field.” 

Step One Automotive LLC and Step One Investments LLC – both based in Fort Walton Beach – own and operate nine establishments in Florida in Pensacola, Fort Walton Beach, Crestview, Niceville; and four in Brunswick and Savannah, Georgia.

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.

GRAND RAPIDS, MI – The prime contractor responsible for construction of the Grand Rapids Home for Veterans paid back wages and benefits to 18 workers on the project after a federal investigation found the subcontractor who employed them had shortchanged them.

The Davis Bacon and Related Acts require that contractors and subcontractors on federally funded construction projects pay prevailing wage rates and benefits to all laborers on site. They also mandate that prime contractors make sure their subcontractors comply with the law and certify payrolls properly.

A U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division investigation found that while Staffing Solutions – a subcontractor on the veterans home project – had certified that it paid 18 carpenters the required $18.14 in prevailing wages and $4.59 in fringe benefits per hour, their employer had actually paid them less per hour and failed to pay for, or provide, fringe benefits.

The Christman Company, the project’s prime contractor, has paid the 18 subcontracted carpenters $26,671 in back wages and benefits owed to resolve the discrepancy, and its failure to certify.

The Lansing-based prime contractor hired Staffing Solutions Inc. of Grand Rapids to provide workers for the project. Staffing Solutions hired and paid the workers as laborers when, in fact, most of them performed carpentry work on the job site. Instead of paying the $18.14 per hour prevailing wage rate for carpentry work, the subcontractor paid most of the workers between $15 and $18 an hour. Staffing Solutions also failed to provide fringe benefits or pay a cash equivalent of $4.59 per hour to the workers and to pay correct overtime rates.

“Enforcement of the prevailing wage laws levels the playing field for all contractors and protects the wages of hard-working, middle-class American workers,” explained Wage and Hour Division District Director Mary O’Rourke in Grand Rapids. “The Wage and Hour Division will remain vigilant in its enforcement to ensure employees are paid in accordance with prevailing wage laws. Contractors with questions about their responsibilities are encouraged to call us, confidentially, for help.”

Contractors and subcontractors on federally funded construction projects are required to pay covered workers weekly and submit weekly certified payroll records to the contracting agency. They are also required to post the Davis-Bacon poster (WH-1321) on the job site.

For more information about the DBRA 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.

DETROIT– A South Carolina-based contractor that processes identification cards for members of the armed forces, their families, retirees, government contractors and civilians has paid $1,705,441 in back wages and fringe benefits to 81 employees after the company violated the requirements of the McNamara-O’Hara Service Contract Act.

A U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division investigation found D2 Government Solutions LLC – formerly operating as Onvoi LLC – failed to pay required fringe benefits to employees working on this contract.  

The investigation revealed that the employer erroneously paid employees as word processors when they should have been classified as ID clerks, which require a higher rate of pay. Investigators found that a vague position description in the contract lead to an unintentional classification error that affected employees at 30 U.S. Department of Defense locations in 21 states.

“D2 Government Solutions cooperated throughout the course of the investigation and agreed to audit its pay practices and contracts quickly to ensure compliance with the law and to pay employees all back wages and benefits found due by Wage and Hour Division investigators,” explained Wage and Hour Division Regional Administrator Michael Lazzeri in Chicago.

Wage and Hour Division Acting Administrator Jessica Looman affirmed, “Enforcement of prevailing wage laws protects the wages of hard-working, middle-class American workers. The division is committed to ensuring that employees are paid the wages they have rightfully earned and that Federal contractors are aware of specific wage and benefit requirements and are complying with the law.”

For more information about the SCA 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.

MEEKER, CO – While law enforcement officers in Rio Blanco County worked to uphold the law, they themselves fell victim to illegal pay practices when their employer failed to pay them for time spent performing work before and after their scheduled shifts, an investigation by U.S. Department of Labor has found.

After its investigation, the department’s Wage and Hour Division recovered $69,870 in back wages owed to 40 county employees. The division found the county violated the Fair Labor Standards Act by failing to pay workers for all the hours they worked. Time spent by some officers in pre-shift briefings, completing paperwork, and other shift-change activities was not recorded as work time or included in the officers’ pay. The investigation also uncovered that the county paid workers their overtime late, in some cases by up to three months, and failed to maintain accurate time records – both also FLSA violations.

“All employers, including state and local governments, must pay their employees all of their legally earned wages on their designated payday,” said Wage and Hour District Director Charles Frasier in Denver. “The outcome of this investigation should serve as a reminder to all employers to review their pay practices, ensure they comply with the law, and avoid violations like those found in this case.”

The department offers numerous resources to ensure employers have the tools they need to understand their responsibilities and to comply with federal law, such as online videos and confidential calls to local Wage and Hour Division offices.

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, and use its search tool if you think you may be owed back wages collected by the division.

WILDWOOD, FL – In urgent care centers, workdays may be long and hard. For clinicians who split their hours of work between two jointly owned central Florida facilities, their employers made the work a bit harder by failing to pay them all of their legally earned wages.

U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division investigators found 441 Urgent Care LLC and Santos Primary Care Centers PLLC – which share common ownership – failed to combine hours employees worked at both care centers when determining when overtime was due. As a result, the employers failed to pay overtime when employees’ hours totaled more than 40 in a workweek, in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act. In addition, the employers did not keep accurate records, another FLSA violation.

The two primary care centers paid $41,509 in back wages to 27 clinicians.

“Failing to combine the hours worked by employees at multiple establishments denies essential workers their proper wages and also gives the employer an unfair advantage over law-abiding competitors,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Wildalí De Jesús in Orlando, Florida. “We encourage all employers to review their pay practices and to contact us with any questions they have to avoid violations like those found in this investigation.”

Based in Summerfield, the employer operates one 441 Urgent Care Center clinic in Wildwood and three Santos Primary Care Center clinics in The Villages. 

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.

CARLISLE, PA – Ignoring lump sum bonus payments made to essential supermarket workers during the pandemic when calculating their overtime rates led to federal wage violations by a large Northeast supermarket chain that shortchanged more than 3,300 workers in four states, a U.S. Department of Labor investigation has determined.

The department’s Wage and Hour Division found that Giant Company LLC of Carlisle increased workers’ hourly rates $2 per hour from March 2020 through May 2020 and calculated overtime correctly. In May 2020, the employer decreased the hourly wage by $2 and began paying lump sum bonuses instead. When they did, they failed to include those bonus amounts in workers’ regular rates when calculating overtime pay due, resulting in violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act. Excluding bonus amounts from the calculation resulted in Giant paying overtime at rates lower than those the law requires. The employer paid lump sum bonuses in June 2020, October 2020 and February 2021.

The investigation led to the division’s recovery of $165,653 in back wages for 3,314 workers at 192 stores in Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia and Maryland. The Giant Company LLC operates food stores under the Giant, Foodsource and Martin’s brands. 

“Grocery workers are among our lowest-paid essential workers, and deserve to take home every penny of the wages they earn,” said Wage and Hour Division Wilkes-Barre District Office Director Al Gristina. “Shifting pay from the hourly rate to a bonus does not mean the employer can exclude it when calculating overtime. The Wage and Hour Division offers extensive educational materials to employers so that they understand their responsibilities clearly, and we invite them to contact us directly with any questions they may have. Trained professionals are available to answer questions from employers and employees alike, confidentially, in more than 200 languages.”

For more information about the FLSA and other laws enforced by the agency, 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. 

WESTMINSTER, MD – A Westminster healthcare management company, a large employer in long-term care and rehabilitation, could have shown more care when paying 256 essential workers at four facilities in Pennsylvania and one in Maryland.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division found Transitions Healthcare LLC violated the Fair Labor Standards Act when it failed to pay required overtime to employees who worked over 40 hours in a workweek. The employer violated the law by failing to include earned bonuses in the calculation of overtime pay, including sign-on bonuses, retention bonuses and bonuses for working extra shifts. Excluding these amounts resulted in the employer paying overtime at rates lower than those required by law.

Transitions Healthcare LLC will pay back wages to workers at the following locations:

“Transitions Healthcare shortchanged essential workers at a time when people employed in the healthcare industry have faced risks to themselves and their families,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director John DuMont in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. “Had this employer properly incorporated all bonuses paid, they would have paid these workers their full wages and avoided violations. We encourage any employers with questions to reach out to us for help. Violations like those in this case can be avoided.”

Based in Westminster, Transitions Healthcare LLC manages certain operations of nursing home, assisted living and adult day care facilities, and continuing care retirement communities in Maryland and Pennsylvania.

For more information about the FLSA and other laws enforced by the agency, 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.