Cleaning company must pay $196K in back wages, damages to 40 workers after falsifying payroll records, owner faces five years of probation

LEE’S SUMMIT, Mo. – Imagine being told that you and your spouse would have to split a paycheck for 80 hours of work – despite that fact that each of you worked 80 hours – or receiving your paycheck issued under a co-worker’s name because your employer was attempting not to pay you overtime.

That’s what U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division investigators found at Magic Touch Cleaning Inc. where management paid workers fixed amounts per project, without regard to the number of hours they actually worked, paid straight time rates for overtime, and falsified employees’ names, timesheets and payroll records, all violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Under terms of a plea agreement in federal court for the Western District of Missouri, Gary L. Walker, owner of the Lee’s Summit-based cleaning company, will pay $196,484 in unpaid minimum wage, overtime, and damages to 40 former employees of the company. U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert E. Larsen also sentenced Walker to five years of probation.

“No worker should ever be asked to accept a payroll check made payable to another person, or to share their rightfully earned wages – both clear violations of the law,” said Ricky Robinson, assistant district director for the wage and hour division in Kansas City. “Recovering these wages makes a real difference to these vulnerable employees, who worked long hours and were not paid even the minimum wage or for overtime worked. Too often, we find unscrupulous employers taking advantage of workers with language barriers who may not fully understand their rights, or who may be afraid to step forward when those rights are violated. The judge has sent a clear message to employers – criminal violations will be pursued and the law will be enforced so that workers’ wages are protected.”

Investigators found the cleaning company violated the FLSA’s minimum wage, overtime and recordkeeping provisions by:

• Paying multiple employees with one check, made payable to just one of the workers, expecting them to share the wages, resulting in payment less than the required federal minimum wage.
• Paying for overtime hours at straight time rates, on checks made out in other employees’ names.
• Paying husband and wife teams a combined 80 hours per bi-weekly pay period and requiring them to “split” the pay, despite each of them having worked 80 hours.
• Falsifying employee’s names, timesheets and other payroll records.
• Failing to pay workers for time spent traveling between work sites.
• Failing to accurately record daily and weekly work hours and earnings paid.
• Failing to provide final paychecks to at least four workers.

The FLSA requires that covered, nonexempt employees be paid at least the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour for all hours worked, plus time and one-half their regular hourly rates for hours worked beyond 40 per week. The FLSA provides that employers who violate the law are, as a general rule, liable to employees for their back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages. Liquidated damages are paid directly to the affected employees. Additionally, the law requires employers to maintain accurate time and payroll records and prohibits retaliation against employees who exercise their rights under the law.

For more information about the FLSA, visit https://www.dol.gov/whd or call the division’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243).