Silicon Valley Horse Training Facility Pays Employees $64,982 After U.S. Department of Labor Finds Overtime Violations

SAN JOSE, CA – After an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD), Charlebois Farm LLC – a horse training facility in Menlo Park, California – will pay $64,982 to 13 employees for violating the overtime requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). 

WHD investigators found that Charlebois Farm LLC paid its grooms flat rates per day, regardless of the number of hours they worked. This practice resulted in violations when those employees worked more than 40 hours in a workweek, but the employer failed to pay them overtime. Grooms typically worked approximately 48 hours per week. Recordkeeping violations resulted from the employer’s failure to record the number of hours worked by the grooms each day and each week.

“Employers must pay their employees all the wages they have legally earned,” said Wage and Hour District Director Susana Blanco in San Jose, California. “This investigation should serve as an opportunity for other employers to review their pay practices to ensure they comply with the law. We encourage employers and employees to call us for assistance to improve their understanding of the law’s requirements and learn about our on-line educational tools, so violations like those found in this investigation can be avoided.”

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.