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Brooklyn, NY - A bakery has agreed to pay employees $120,651 in overtime back wages to settle a U.S. Department of Labor lawsuit alleging violations of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). An investigation by the Brooklyn area office of the Wage and Hour Division in New York revealed that employees were working far more than the 35 hours per week claimed by the employer, without being properly compensated. The firm also allegedly maintained false records of hours worked and amounts paid per hour to employees.
A consent judgment, filed simultaneously with the complaint, orders payment of back wages plus interest; prohibits future violations of the minimum wage, overtime and recordkeeping provisions of the FLSA; and prohibits the defendants from taking retaliatory action against any employees who exercise their rights under the law.
The judgment provides for a court-appointed receiver to collect the back wages in the event the defendants fail to make a payment. The receiver has the power to seize and liquidate the defendants' assets to satisfy the back wage payment order. Finally, the defendants are ordered to advise employees of the terms of the judgment; the employer's obligations under the FLSA, and worker rights to engage in protected activities under the Act without fear of retaliation. The defendants agreed to entry of the consent judgment without admitting or denying any FLSA violations.
Further information:
Brooklyn Bakery to Pay Over $120,000 in Back Wages To Settle U.S. Labor Department Action
Restaurant pays over $124,000 in back wages, plus $78,000 to settle action
Queens, NY - A restaurant has paid 112 employees a total of $124,084 in minimum wage and overtime back pay following an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division. A subsequent investigation of the restaurant resulted in a consent judgment ordering the company to pay an additional $78,683 in back wages to workers and a $12,000 civil money penalty to the Labor Department.
The first investigation revealed violations of the minimum wage and overtime requirements of the FLSA. Some employees were paid less than the required federal minimum wage and many employees worked more than 40 hours a week without being properly compensated for overtime hours. The second investigation revealed that the employer was changing employees' hourly rates each week, depending on the number of hours they worked, to limit overtime compensation liability.
The consent judgment also prohibits future violations of the FLSA and specifically orders the company always to pay employees covered by the law proper overtime wages. The order also requires the defendant to notify all current employees that their regular rates of pay will not be decreased in weeks in which they work overtime and to place, in plain view of all employees, official Labor Department posters describing worker rights under the law. The company agreed to the consent judgment without admitting or denying any violations of the FLSA.
Further information:
Long Island City Restaurant Pays Employees Over $124,000 in Back Wages; Court Orders Payment of $78,000 More to Settle Labor Department Action
Over $25,000 recovered for 39 credit union workers
Indianapolis, IN - A northwest Indiana credit union has paid $25,178 in back wages to 39 area workers to resolve alleged violations of the FLSA overtime provisions, the U.S. Department of Labor has announced.
The U.S. Federal Credit Union agreed to pay the workers following an investigation by the Labor Department's Wage and Hour Division. That investigation found that employees were either not paid for all hours worked past forty in a single workweek or were paid an incorrect amount because the credit union failed to include commissions in employees' regular rates of pay when calculating the overtime rate. The credit union cooperated fully in the investigation and agreed to pay the back wages. The company also agreed to discontinue its practice of deducting money from tellers' checks for shortages, which resulted in violations of both federal and state law.
Further information:
U.S. Labor Department Recovers Over $25,000 for 39 Northwest Indiana Area Workers
Company ordered to pay more than $269,500 to 23 janitors
Minneapolis, MN - A federal district court has ordered the owner of a maintenance and cleaning business to pay 23 employees $134,773 in minimum wage and overtime back pay and an equal amount in liquidated damages following an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division.
Investigators from the department's Wage and Hour Division determined that 23 janitors were not paid overtime for cleaning supermarkets in Louisiana and Minnesota six or seven nights a week for a total of between 48 and 70 hours. Minimum wage violations occurred when the employer withheld payment for the first two weeks of work and failed to make regular payments to the employees. The company is no longer in business.
Further information:
Brooklyn Park, Minn., Company Ordered to Pay More Than $269,500 in Back Pay and Damages
Japanese Restaurants to pay more than $112,000 in back wages to 64 workers
Houston, TX - A company that owns two Japanese restaurants has agreed to pay $112,080 in back wages to 64 current and former wait staff and kitchen employees following an investigation by the U.S. Labor Department's Wage and Hour Division. The agency found that the restaurants violated the minimum wage and overtime provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).
The employer required servers to split more than 15 percent of their tips, leaving some workers at a pay rate below the minimum wage. In addition, kitchen help was paid straight time for hours worked over 40 in a workweek.
Under the FLSA, tip pooling is allowed but limited to employees who customarily and regularly receive more than $30 a month in tips. This would include waiters, waitresses, countermen, busboys and service bartenders. Managers however are not eligible to participate in tip pooling.
Traditionally restaurants consider tips part of an employee's wages, but must pay at least $2.13 an hour in direct wages. If the combined wages fall below $5.15 an hour, the employer must make up the difference and bring the employee's wages up to the minimum wage.
To promote compliance with the FLSA in the restaurant industry, Wage and Hour's Houston office is working with the Greater Houston Restaurant Association to provide important compliance information to more than 4,000 Houston restaurants.
Further information:
Japanese Restaurants in Houston and Kemah, Texas, to Pay More Than $112,000 in Back Wages to 64 Workers
US Labor Department recovers over $169,000 in back wages for 393 employees
Salt Lake City, UT - The U.S. Department of Labor has announced that a security firm has paid $169,105 in back wages to 393 employees in Utah, Indiana, Ohio and New Mexico. Under supervision by the Wage and Hour Division, the company conducted a nationwide self-audit which revealed that some employees were not paid for all hours worked. Security personnel were not paid for pre- and post-shift briefing time and were not paid for interrupted lunch periods when they were working.
The firm, which employs over 2,000 workers nationwide, operates 24 Job Corps Centers and six correctional facilities throughout the United States. To help promote nationwide compliance in the future, extensive training is being provided to all managers throughout the country.
Further information:
U.S. Labor Department Recovers Over $169,000 in Back Wages for 393 Employees of Utah-Based Company
$125,000 in back wages and liquidated damages for an Indonesian nanny
Aurora, CO - The U.S. Department of Labor has filed a lawsuit in federal district court against the employers of an Indonesian nanny for alleged violations of federal minimum wage and recordkeeping violations of the federal FLSA.
The department's lawsuit alleges that the husband and wife failed to pay the Indonesian nanny approximately $62,500 in minimum wages over a two-year period and failed to maintain adequate and accurate records of wages, hours and other conditions of employment.
Further information:
U.S. Labor Department Sues Aurora Employer of Indonesian Nanny to Recover a Total of $125,000 In Back Wages and Liquidated Damages
...back to 5 January 2006
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