In a span of three days, the U.S. Department of Labor announced it had recovered $2.5 million in unpaid wages for over 450 employees involving eight different companies.
As evidenced by the announcements, there is no one industry that continues to violate the Fair Labor Standards Act — a 1938 law that requires non-exempt employees to be paid overtime for all hours worked over 40 in a workweek. The law also provides for minimum wage and has special rules around tip pooling for tipped workers.
The FLSA permits recovery of not just the back wages owed to the employee and attorney’s fees, but the law has a special provision referred to as “liquidated damages” — which doubles what is owed to the employee as penalties.
Multiple FLSA provisions were center stage in the announcements that employers had violated, among them:
A supermarket in Utah will pay $502,609 in back wages and liquidated damages for 148 workers to include $251,305 in back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages to the affected employees as well as $22,390 in civil money penalties for the overtime violations. The DOL announced it also penalized the supermarket for attempting to prevent DOL investigators from interviewing employees and instructed them to tell investigators they did not work more than 40 hours per week.
Telling workers to lie to federal regulators is absolutely an unacceptable workplace practice.
A supermarket in Utah will pay $502,609 in back wages and liquidated damages for 148 workers to include $251,305 in back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages to the affected employees as well as $22,390 in civil money penalties for the overtime violations. The DOL announced it also penalized the supermarket for attempting to prevent DOL investigators from interviewing employees and instructed them to tell investigators they did not work more than 40 hours per week.
Telling workers to lie to federal regulators is absolutely an unacceptable workplace practice.
A food wholesaler in Hawaii will pay $73,000 to 11 warehouse workers to include $36,685 in unpaid overtime wages, $36,685 in damages and $8,877 in penalties for the reckless disregard of the law, according to the announcement.
The DOL said of the violations, “Investigators determined the employer illegally gave workers the option to either clock in overtime hours worked or to accept cash payments to avoid paying taxes on those earnings. The employer also violated FLSA recordkeeping requirements by keeping inaccurate time and payroll records.”
A San Diego café owner will pay $127,000 in back wages and damages to 18 employees, including waiters and cooks, due to unpaid overtime. The DOL found that some employees were required to work up to 67 hours per week without proper compensation. The DOL’s recovery includes $63,674 in unpaid wages and an equal amount in damages, in addition to $7,263 in penalties for the “reckless disregard of the law.”
The DOL announced, “Restaurant employers such as Jimmy Carter’s Mexican Café cheat workers and commit wage theft when they refuse to pay employees’ earned overtime wages,” said Wage and Hour District Director Min Park-Chung in San Diego. “Cooks and servers often work long hours and, like all workers, must be paid in compliance with federal labor laws. Employers who undercut their workers’ wages will be held accountable.”
All of these violations reveal a grim outlook on how employers are operating their businesses and failing to comply with basic labor laws. Employees frequently feel that they have no voice and are uncertain of their rights.
Employers must comply with federal and state wage payment laws, without exception, and the employee and employer cannot agree otherwise.
More information on federal labor laws can be found at www.dol.gov. In Virginia, employees can report violations to the Virginia Department of Labor and Industry at www.doli.virginia.gov.