U.S. Department of Labor Investigation Results in Detroit Area Car Wash Operator Paying $83,741 in Back Wages and Damages

DETROIT, MI – After an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD), Super Car Wash Systems & Holdings LLC – based in Royal Oak, Michigan – has paid $83,741 in back wages and damages to 60 current and former employees at nine Detroit metro-area car wash locations. WHD investigators found the employer violated overtime and recordkeeping requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

Investigators determined that Super Car Wash Systems & Holdings LLC failed to pay overtime at time-and-one-half employees’ regular rates of pay when they worked more than 40 hours in a workweek. Instead, the employer paid for overtime hours at workers’ straight-time rates, in cash. The employer also failed to maintain accurate records of overtime payments made and failed to display required postings, violating FLSA recordkeeping requirements.  

“Employers must pay their employees all the wages they have legally earned, and are required to maintain records of payments made to them – including those made in cash,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Timolin Mitchell, in Detroit, Michigan. “Employers are encouraged to contact us to better understand their responsibilities so that they can avoid violations like those found in this case.”

Investigators found violations at the company’s Michigan locations in Eastpointe, Farmington, Royal Oak, Southfield, Walled Lake and Warren.

The department offers numerous resources to ensure employers have the tools they need to understand their responsibilities and to comply with federal law, such as online videos, confidential calls, or in-person visits to local WHD offices.

For more information about the FLSA and other laws enforced by the Wage and Hour Division, contact the toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Employers who discover overtime or minimum wage violations may self-report and resolve those violations without litigation through the PAID program. Information is also available at https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd.

WHD’s mission is to promote and achieve compliance with labor standards to protect and enhance the welfare of the nation's workforce. WHD enforces federal minimum wage, overtime pay, recordkeeping and child labor requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act. WHD also enforces the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act, the Employee Polygraph Protection Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act, wage garnishment provisions of the Consumer Credit Protection Act and a number of employment standards and worker protections as provided in several immigration related statutes. Additionally, WHD administers and enforces the prevailing wage requirements of the Davis Bacon Act and the Service Contract Act and other statutes applicable to federal contracts for construction and for the provision of goods and services.

The mission of the Department of Labor is to foster, promote and develop the welfare of the wage earners, job seekers and retirees of the United States; improve working conditions; advance opportunities for profitable employment; and assure work-related benefits and rights.