BOSTON – Following an investigation and litigation by the U.S. Department of Labor, a federal court ordered a Holbrook tree service company and its owner – who threatened a former employee who participated in an investigation by the department’s Wage and Hour Division – to pay the worker $25,000 in punitive damages.

ATHENS, GA – A federal investigation has found two Zaxby’s franchise restaurants in Lilburn and Grayson endangered minor-aged employees and allowed them to work outside of prescribed hours, in violation of federal child labor laws.

YOUNGSTOWN, OH – A federal judge ordered American Made Bags LLC in Akron and its owner to pay a total of $189,756 – $94,893 in back wages and an equal amount in damages – to 48 employees after two separate federal investigations found numerous illegal pay practices.

NEW KENSINGTON, PA – A federal court has approved a consent judgment ordering a New Kensington landscaping company and its owner to pay $150,000 in back wages and penalties after a U.S. Department of Labor investigation found the employer willfully denied overtime pay to its workers.

UPPER DARBY, PA – A federal court has ordered an Upper Darby home healthcare agency to pay $4,544,872 in back wages and liquidated damages after U.S. Department of Labor investigators found that the employer misclassified some workers as independent contractors, which denied 503 home health aides their rightfully earned overtime wages.

WHO:             U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division

                         Bureau of Labor Statistics

WHAT:           Compliance assistance presentation for logistics, warehousing and transportation employers

WHEN:           March 17, 2022

WALTERBORO, SC – A U.S. Department of Labor investigation found a Walterboro landscaping company failed to reimburse workers employed in the U.S. under the H-2B guest worker program for their travel costs and failed to pay wage rates as required.

SIOUX CITY, IA – Slaughterhouse workers spend long hours on their feet to process livestock and put beef, pork and other meats on the nation’s dinner tables – essential work that keeps Americans fed. For their labor, employers are legally required to ensure these workers are paid all their rightful wages.

BUENA PARK, CA – A U.S. Department of Labor investigation recovered $158,096 in back wages and liquidated damages for employees of a global medical products manufacturer that failed to pay workers, putting many of them at risk of being unable to provide for their basic needs.

PENSACOLA, FL – A commercial cleaning contractor shortchanged 19 workers at a Federal Aviation Administration worksite in Pensacola by failing to combine hours worked at different job sites and not paying prevailing wages and benefits required on federally funded contracts, the U.S. Department of Labor has found.

WALTERBORO, SC - Una investigación del Departamento de Trabajo de EE.UU. descubrió que una empresa de jardinería de Walterboro no reembolsó a los trabajadores empleados en EE.UU. bajo el programa de trabajadores invitados H-2B sus gastos de traslados y no pagó las tarifas salariales como se requiere.

COLUMBUS, OH– Home healthcare workers assist their clients with daily living tasks and even stay overnight at their homes to provide around-the-clock care. Despite their essential labor, these workers are sometimes denied all their rightful wages by their employer’s illegal pay practices, as federal investigators found in a recent labor investigation in Columbus.

CHICAGO – While Sarpino’s Pizzeria locations in Chicago promise quick delivery when customers call, the business’ operator was much less responsive when U.S. Department of Labor investigators chose to review the employer’s pay practices.

In fact, investigators with the department’s Wage and Hour Division needed a subpoena to obtain employees’ pay records and it soon became clear why the owner refused to cooperate.

PORTLAND, OR - El Departamento de Trabajo de EE.UU. hace cumplir las leyes que protegen los derechos de los trabajadores. También responsabiliza a los empleadores sin escrúpulos que defraudan a sus trabajadores, como sucedió con 118 empleados de tres restaurantes de Oregón después de que una investigación revelara el robo de salarios y otras infracciones.

KANSAS CITY, MO – After long days spent toiling in fields under a hot Missouri sun, immigrant workers returned to what was once a county jail where their employer housed them in unsanitary living conditions and added to their misery by failing to pay them the wages they earned under their contract.

ORLANDO, FL – Employers cannot avoid paying overtime by simply putting employees on a salary, a costly lesson learned by a Florida equipment rental company after a U.S. Department of Labor investigation.

DETROIT – Timothy Schultz, sole owner of a now defunct Detroit-area transport company, will pay $273,820 – representing $252,416 in overtime back wages and $21,404 in interest  –  to 326 former drivers to resolve a U.S.

CHICAGO ‒ Careworkers put in long hours tending to the vital needs of people in their homes and at health care facilities, yet they are among the nation’s lowest paid workers. Their jobs are made even more difficult when employers fail to pay them all their rightfully earned wages.

Employer name:                   Area Wide Protection Inc., doing business as Roadtek Traffic Solutions LLC                                                                                                               5874 N. Lee Highway, Suite 100                                                                                                                                                                                                         Fairfield, VA 24435

Employer name:                                Heavenly Victory LLC, doing business as Naranjero Super 1

Investigation site:                              Albuquerque, New Mexico