DURHAM, NC – Federal wage laws ensure that government contractors fulfill their legal obligations, among them paying required wage rates and fringe benefits to workers employed with federal funds to provide services to the government. When contractors violate these laws, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division acts.

In April 2017, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency awarded Perkins Management Services Co. a contract to provide food service staffing at the agency’s cafeteria on the Research Triangle Park campus in Durham.

After a recent investigation, an Administrative Law Judge issued an order to debar Perkins Management Services Co., a Charlotte food service staffing provider, for failing to meet its obligations to workers at an EPA cafeteria in Durham. The action prevents the employer from bidding on federal contracts for 3 years because of its violations of the Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards and the McNamara-O’Hara Service Contract Acts.

Perkins Management Services will also pay $27,687 in back wages to 14 workers to resolve violations of wage requirements found by Wage and Hour Division investigators.

Investigators determined that Perkins Management violated the SCA by paying two cooks hourly wage rates lower than the prevailing wage rates required for their occupations. During the first months of the contract, the employer also failed to pay the cooks required fringe benefits.

Investigators also found Perkins Management failed to provide paid vacation to all eligible workers on the contract, and paid overtime at rates lower than those the law requires.

“Prevailing wage standards provide a safety net of fair wages to workers, their families and communities, and enable local contractors and subcontractors to compete on a level playing field,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Richard Blaylock in Raleigh, North Carolina. “Taxpayers have a right to expect that federal contractors – who are paid with tax dollars – will comply with the law, and the Labor Department will not allow companies to abuse that trust.”

For more information about the 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.

TAMPA, FL – Restaurant workers who prepare and serve sushi take great care to provide their customers a great experience. A recent investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor found the operator of one Tampa sushi restaurant less than careful in how it paid wages to 12 kitchen workers and a manager.

An investigation by the department’s Wage and Hour Division has recovered $150,749 in back wages and liquidated damages for workers to resolve minimum wage and overtime violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act by KS Japanese Food Service LLC, which operates as Matoi Sushi on N. Dale Mabry Highway.

Investigators determined Matoi Sushi paid workers flat salaries, regardless of the number of hours they worked each workweek. By doing so, the employer violated overtime laws when employees worked more than 40 hours in a workweek. Minimum wage violations occurred when those flat salaries failed to cover all the hours employees worked at the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. Some workers took home less than $6 per hour. In addition, investigators found a kitchen manager was due overtime back wages because the worker’s salary of $230 per week fell far short of the required minimum of $684 per week to qualify for the overtime exemption for salaried managers.

“These workers rely on receiving all the wages they have legally earned,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Nicolas Ratmiroff in Tampa, Florida. “Employers may elect to pay workers on any schedule they choose – weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, or any other timeframe. They must, however, still track hours weekly to determine when overtime is due. They must also understand that paying workers a fixed salary does not excuse them automatically from paying overtime. We encourage anyone with questions to call us, confidentially, to speak with a trained wage and hour professional.”

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

JACKSON, MS – While some employers’ misunderstanding of federal wage and hour laws may lead to violations, there are others whose actions show they intended to shortchange workers deliberately and, by doing so, gain an unfair advantage over their law-abiding competitors.

A U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division investigation found CCSI Inc. – a Jackson security and patrol service – violated minimum wage, overtime and recordkeeping laws. The willful nature of the violations led the division to expand the investigation to include the past three years instead of the usual two-year timeframe.

The investigation of CSSI Inc. found the employer:

• Disregarded minimum wage laws by docking workers’ pay to cover the employer’s expenses for uniforms.
• Paid some security guards hourly rates for their first 40 hours of work each week, and continued to pay for any overtime hours at workers’ straight-time rates, disguising such payment as “mileage reimbursement” in the payroll records.
• Failed to record hours employees worked to cover weekend events, paying for those hours separately, in cash, at straight-time rates.

To resolve the Fair Labor Standards Act violations, CSSI Inc., paid $68,603 in back wages to 34 employees, and the division assessed the employer an $11,645 civil penalty.

“Some employers attempt to gain financially by shortchanging employees and dodging wage laws” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Audrey Hall in Jackson, Mississippi. “The U.S. Department of Labor will hold employers who ignore the law fully accountable. These employees deserve to be paid all the wages they have legally earned, and we remain committed to ensuring that happens.”

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

TAMPA, FL – Home healthcare aides are among the nation’s lowest wage earners. Many depend on receiving every dollar they’ve earned, including overtime wages, so when their employer fails to comply with federal labor laws and shorts their pay, it hits their wallets particularly hard.  

A U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division investigation of All Support Services LLC, a Tampa-area home healthcare provider, found that the employer failed to pay workers overtime when they worked more than 40 hours in a workweek, instead paying workers at straight time rates for all the hours that they worked. The employer also failed to pay workers for time spent traveling between clients’ homes, or for some of the time they spent on duty while their clients slept. 

The division cited All Support Services for these violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act and has recovered $45,770 in back wages for 38 workers. 

“The Fair Labor Standards Act is very clear when it comes to employers’ obligations to their workers and their employees’ rights to receive earned wages for all the hours they work,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Nicolas Ratmiroff in Tampa, Florida. “Failing to pay workers as the law requires is illegal, and especially unacceptable amid a pandemic when these workers put their own safety at risk to serve the needs of our communities’ most vulnerable citizens.”

Based in Tampa, All Support Services LLC provides supported living coaches, supported employment, personal support, in-home companions and personal live-in support services to area residents.

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.

WEST COVINA, CA – An Ontario logistics provider of warehousing and distribution services for the home fashion and apparel industry told workers to record only 8 hours of labor each day regardless of how many hours they actually worked – a finding of the U.S. Department of Labor affirmed by a federal court in California recently.

The U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, Eastern Division, has ordered Global One Logistics to pay a total of $120,000 in overtime back wages and liquidated damages to 388 employees, and an additional $2,000 penalty assessed by the department’s Wage and Hour Division to address the employer’s willful violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Investigators found the employer willfully failed to pay employees overtime at time-and-one-half their regular rates of pay when they worked more than 40 hours per week. In addition to requiring employees to falsify the number of hours they worked each day, the employer also paid for the unrecorded hours in cash, at workers’ straight-time rates.

“Employers who purposefully manipulate payroll records in an attempt to avoid their legal obligations will be held accountable by the U.S. Department of Labor,” said Wage and Hour Division Assistant District Director Rafael Valles in West Covina, California. “Shortchanging employees hurts workers and their families, and gives employers who cheat an unfair competitive advantage over employers who abide by the law. The outcome of this investigation serves as a reminder to all employers to review their pay practices to ensure they comply with the law, and as a reminder to workers that they have the right to be paid for all of the hours that they work.”

In addition to paying back wages and damages, the court ordered Global One Logistics to implement a reliable timekeeping system that allows each employee to record his or her daily start and stop times accurately. The order also instructed the employer to not alter or manipulate time or payroll records to reduce the number of hours actually worked and not to encourage or pressure workers to under report hours worked.

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

Read this news release En Español.

WARREN, MI – The Davis Bacon and Related Acts require contractors on federally funded projects to pay all laborers on site prevailing wage rates and benefits, and mandates that prime contractors make sure their subcontractors follow the rules.

An investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division found Premier Office Installations of Flat Rock, a subcontractor installing furniture as part of a renovation project at the U.S. Army Contracting Command-Detroit Arsenal in Warren, failed to pay workers the prevailing wages and fringe benefits required for carpenters. In turn, the project’s prime contractor – Ambica JV LLC of Livonia – paid the $82,700 in back wages due to 19 employees after the department found the prime contractor failed to advise its subcontractor of the DBRA requirements.

“This investigation demonstrates the department’s commitment to ensuring that employees are paid the wages they have rightfully earned and to leveling the playing field among all employers who do business with the government,” explained Wage and Hour Division District Director Timolin Mitchell in Detroit. “Employers awarded federal contracts are aware of these requirements and must evaluate their pay practices to ensure all employees on the job site receive the wages and benefits they are due.”

Contractors and subcontractors on federally funded projects are required to pay covered workers weekly and submit weekly certified payroll records to the federal agency contracting the work. They are also required to 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.

ALBUQUERQUE, NM - The U.S. Department of Labor, in partnership with El Centro de Igualdad y Derechos and NM Comunidades En Acción Y De Féé), the New Mexico Workforce Solutions and Somos Un Pueblo Unido will present a Spanish-language webinar on the U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division’s Essential Workers ‒ Essential Protections initiative on May 26 at 5 p.m. MT.

Grocery, healthcare, delivery service, retail, agricultural and other workers in essential industries have risked their health and that of their families in pursuit of a needed paycheck. The Wage and Hour Division is committed to ensuring that these and all workers receive the workplace protections the law provides.

Rapid changes in the workplace have recently left workers, their advocates and employers with many questions about wages, hours worked and time off for workers or their family members dealing with serious illness. The Fair Labor Standards Act and the Family and Medical Leave Act provide protections for workers that may be more crucial now than ever before.

To address these concerns, the division is offering Spanish-language training on these critical workplace protections through the Essential Workers ‒ Essential Protections initiative.

Attendance is free, but participants must register for the seminar in advance.

For questions, please contact Patricia Chavez at the Wage and Hour Division’s office at (505) 248-2674 or email Chavez.patricia@dol.gov.

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NASHVILLE, TN – A federal contractor that provides transportation and parking valet service for veterans attending medical appointments has paid $158,068 in back wages to 66 workers to resolve violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act and the McNamara-O'Hara Service Contract Act found in a U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division investigation.

The investigation found Community Pastor Care, LLC doing business as CPC Medical Transportation, violated the Service Contract Act, which governs prevailing wages on federally funded contracts. The investigation determined that the Columbia, South Carolina, company failed to pay employees required prevailing wages, and health and welfare benefits for work they performed under the contract. Investigators also found the contractor failed to pay overtime when employees worked more than 40 hours per week, in violation of the FLSA. The workers performed services for Veterans Affairs medical centers in Memphis and Mountain Home.

“Prevailing wage laws protect workers and level the playing field for all contractors who do business with the government,” said Acting Wage and Hour Division District Director Kenneth Stripling in Nashville, Tennessee. “Employers who fail to pay employees all of the wages they legally earned shortchange their workers and gain an unfair competitive advantage over employers who abide by the law.”

The division 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, fact sheets and an online regulation library. 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, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced an 18-month delay in the effective date of the final rule, “Strengthening Wage Protections for the Temporary and Permanent Employment of Certain Aliens in the United States.”

Published in January 2021, the final rule affects employers seeking to employ foreign workers on a permanent or temporary basis through certain immigrant visas or through H-1B, H-1B1 and E-3 non-immigrant visas.  The final rule will now go into effect on Nov. 14, 2022. 

The delay will provide the department with sufficient time to consider the final rule’s legal and policy issues thoroughly, and to review the public comments received in response to a Request for Information published on April 2, 2021. The RFI seeks information about potential sources and methods for determining prevailing wage levels.

The delay will also give agency officials sufficient time to compute and validate prevailing wage data covering specific occupations and geographic areas, complete necessary system modifications and conduct public outreach. This follows an initial 60-day delay. The department based this action on a Jan. 20, 2021, White House memo.

Read the final rule finalizing the delay, now available online for public inspection. It was published in the Federal Register today.

Hallandale, FL – Construction industry employers owe it to their workers to pay them their hard-earned wages on time for their long hours and often demanding, physical labor.

A Hallandale-based restoration firm has learned that failing to meet these obligations doesn’t pay.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division has recovered $533,778 in back wages for 325 employees of Oceanside Labor & Demolition LLC, a contractor offering disaster and fire restoration work nationwide. Investigators found the employer failed to make payroll for three pay periods, leaving employees with no wages over several workweeks. The Fair Labor Standards Act requires that employers pay workers at least the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour, and overtime at one-and-one-half times their hourly rate for hours worked over 40 in a workweek.

“Employers must pay their employees all of the wages they have earned for all of the hours they worked, and do so no later than their regularly scheduled payday,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Daniel Cronin in Miami, Florida. “These essential workers, among those that have kept us moving forward throughout this global pandemic, deserve to be paid fully and on time. The Wage and Hour Division remains committed to ensuring that workers receive every penny they have earned, and that employers compete on a level playing field.”

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.