October 8, 2024

Department of Labor finds Washington contractor transported farmworkers in unsafe vehicles by unlicensed drivers, housed them in moldy motel rooms

KENNEWICK, WA – The U.S. Department of Labor has debarred a Kennewick farm labor contractor from participating in the H-2A temporary agricultural worker program for three years after finding the employer provided workers with unhealthy living conditions; transported them in unsafe vehicles driven by people without licenses or proper permits; withheld wages and made illegal pay deductions; told workers to falsify documents to mask violations of federal regulations; and denied U.S. workers access to jobs.

October 7, 2024

US Department of Labor recovers $132K in wages, damages for 72 wholesale tortilla manufacturing workers in Los Angeles County

Employer:                                 La Flor de Mexico Inc.

Investigation site:                      5121 Commerce Drive

October 7, 2024

Departamento de Trabajo recupera $132K en salarios y compensación por daños para 72 trabajadores de empresa de tortillas en Condado de Los Ángeles

Empleador:                               La Flor de Mexico Inc.

Lugar de investigación:            5121 Commerce Drive

October 3, 2024

US Department of Labor reminds employers of responsibility to pay clean-up, recovery workers proper wages in Helene’s aftermath

ATLANTA – As states across the Southeast address Hurricane Helene’s impacts, the U.S. Department of Labor reminds employers in disaster recovery and their workers that even when disaster strikes, worker protections apply.

October 1, 2024

US Department of Labor, New Jersey Department of Labor strategic enforcement initiative combats illegal child labor

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division and the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development have launched a joint strategic enforcement initiative to combat violations of federal and state child labor laws.

September 30, 2024

Minimum wages in American Samoa increase by 40 cents per hour

PAGO PAGO, American Samoa – Workers on American Samoa employed in industries covered by the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007 will receive a 40-cent increase in their hourly wage beginning Sept. 30.

September 30, 2024

US Department of Labor recovers $154K in back wages, damages from Georgia plastics manufacturer that shortchanged 743 workers of full overtime

ATLANTA – The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered $154,009 in back wages and liquidated damages from an international plastics manufacturer that willfully failed to include bonus payments when calculating overtime for 743 workers.

September 30, 2024

US Department of Labor sues Puerto Rico security guard company for misclassifying employees as independent contractors, denying overtime

Date of action:                       Sept. 24, 2024 

Type of action:                      Complaint

September 30, 2024

US Department of Labor recovers $24K in fringe benefits, paid sick leave for 13 employees of Virginia rehabilitation, nursing care center

Employer:                                          

Hopewell Operator LLC, operating as Wonder City Rehabilitation and Nursing Center

September 30, 2024

Louisiana farm ordered to pay $12K in civil penalties, debarred from H-2A program participation for threatening farmworkers, denying them water

ROSEDALE, LA – The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a court order assessing the operator of a Rosedale farm $12,000 in civil money penalties and preventing the Louisiana employers from applying for H-2A certification to bring foreign workers to the U.S. to fill temporary or seasonal agricultural jobs for one year, after investigators found the farm’s operator intimidated and threatened workers in violation of the law. 

September 26, 2024

US Department of Labor recovers $138K in back wages, damages for 27 construction workers denied overtime in Colorado Springs

Employer:                             Bulletproof Plumbing & Heating Inc. 

Investigation site:             6920 Ropers Point 

September 24, 2024

US Department of Labor files suit to recover unpaid overtime wages, damages for more than 180 shortchanged Coway USA workers

LOS ANGELES – The U.S. Department of Labor has filed a suit in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California alleging that Coway USA Inc., a Los Angeles-based company that sells, leases and services household appliances, failed to pay overtime wages earned by more than 180 employees, a violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act

September 20, 2024

US Department of Labor recovers $799K in back wages, damages owed to 110 employees denied overtime by Chicago-area car care centers

CHICAGO – A federal judge has ordered Mariusz Lekarczyk, the owner and operator of four Chicago-area We Wash Hand Wash and Car Detail Centers, and We Wash Car Care Center Inc. to pay $799,566 in back wages and damages to 110 employees and $110,990 in penalties to the U.S. Department of Labor, as part of a consent judgment and order obtained by the department. 

September 19, 2024

US Department of Labor recovers $43K in wages, damages from San Leandro restaurant that shortchanged 24 Bay Area workers

Employer:      Angry Fish Sushi Inc.

                        16250 E 14th St.

San Leandro, CA 94578

September 18, 2024

Department of Labor recovers $109K in back wages, damages from employers who denied full wages to 359 workers at 5 New Orleans restaurants

NEW ORLEANS –Renowned for its food and restaurant options, New Orleans’ economy depends on the city’s service workers, including 359 people employed by five restaurants that, U.S. Department of Labor investigators found, made illegal wage deductions and paid them less than minimum wage. 

September 18, 2024

US Department of Labor recovers $31K in wages for 23 farmworkers after Sonoma County grower violated H-2A program requirements

Employer:      Humberto Castaneda Produce

                        2859 Fulton Road

Fulton, CA 95439 

September 18, 2024

US Department of Labor files lawsuit to recover $1.87M in back wages, damages for 26 workers at Dragon Kitchen of Jefferson City

JEFFERSON CITY, MO – The U.S. Department of Labor has filed suit in federal court against a Jefferson City buffet restaurant and its owner, after investigators with the department’s Wage and Hour Division found servers worked for tips only and cooks were paid a set cash salary regardless of how many hours they worked, leading to violations of minimum wage or overtime regulations. 

September 18, 2024

Departamento de Trabajo recupera $31K en salarios para 23 trabajadores agrícolas luego que cultivador en Condado de Sonoma violara programa H-2A

Empleador:    Humberto Castaneda Produce

                        2859 Fulton Road

Fulton, CA 95439 

September 18, 2024

US Department of Labor recovers $227K in wages, tips from Grand Prairie Happy Lamb Hot Pot franchisee who denied 47 workers full wages

DALLAS The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered $227,834 in back wages from the owner and operator of a Happy Lamb Hot Pot franchise in Grand Prairie that denied 47 restaurant workers required minimum and overtime wages and illegally allowed a manager to keep a portion of servers’ tips.

September 17, 2024

Departamento de Trabajo obtiene sentencia que recupera $550K en salarios, compensación por daños para 614 trabajadores de construcción en Las Vegas

LAS VEGAS – El Departamento de Trabajo de EE.UU. ha obtenido una sentencia por consentimiento con la que logra recuperar $550,000 en salarios atrasados ​​y compensación por daños para 614 empleados de una empresa de construcción de Las Vegas cuyas prácticas salariales negaron a trabajadores sus salarios completos.