U.S. Department of Labor Recovers $15,385 in Wages After Huntsville, Alabama, Dry Cleaners Missed Payroll

HUNTSVILLE, AL – After an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD), Copeland Cleaners Inc. – a dry cleaning enterprise based in Huntsville, Alabama – has paid $15,385 in wages to 29 employees to resolve minimum wage violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

WHD investigators determined Copeland Cleaners Inc. – operating as Copeland Cleaners and Wilson Cleaners at five Alabama locations in Huntsville and Hartselle – missed payroll and failed to pay its employees on time.

“Employers must pay employees the wages they have earned for the hours they have worked. This payment must occur on a worker’s scheduled payday and not when it is convenient for the employer,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Kenneth Stripling, in Birmingham, Alabama. “The U.S. Department of Labor is committed to educating employers and improving compliance with federal wage laws in an effort to protect American workers and level the playing field for law-abiding employers.”

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 and confidential calls 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, including a search tool to use if you think you may be owed back wages collected by the division.

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.