Southern California Manufacturer Pays Back Wages to Employees Wrongfully Terminated After Requesting Coronavirus-Related Leave

LOS ANGELES, CA – Following an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD), NGY Group – a stone products and cabinet manufacturer in Chino, California – has paid $11,134 in back wages and reinstated two employees the company terminated wrongfully after they applied for coronavirus-related leave, a violation of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA).

WHD investigators found that NGY Group’s misinterpretation of the FFCRA led to the employees’ wrongful termination after they requested leave to care for their children whose school or childcare provider was unavailable because of the pandemic. The law prohibits employers from discharging, disciplining or discriminating against employees for exercising their rights.

After WHD investigators explained the employer’s FFCRA responsibilities, NGY Group reinstated the employees, paid the back wages owed and adopted a strict anti-retaliation policy regarding future FFCRA leave requests.

“The U.S. Department of Labor is protecting the American workforce during the coronavirus pandemic by ensuring employers comply with all of the requirements of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Kimchi Bui in Los Angeles, California. “The Wage and Hour Division encourages employers and employees to contact us to learn about their rights and responsibilities, and about the benefits and protections this new law provides. We offer many online tools to help employers understand the requirements and avoid violations like those found in this investigation.”

The FFCRA helps the U.S. combat and defeat the workplace effects of the coronavirus by giving tax credits to American businesses with fewer than 500 employees either to provide employees with paid leave for the employee’s own health needs or to care for family members. Please visit WHD’s “Quick Benefits Tips” for information about how much leave workers may qualify to use, and the wages employers must pay. The law enables employers to provide paid leave reimbursed by tax credits, while at the same time ensuring that workers are not forced to choose between their paychecks and the public health measures needed to combat the virus.

WHD continues to provide updated information on its website and through extensive outreach efforts to ensure that workers and employers have the information they need about the benefits and protections of this new law. The agency also provides additional information on common issues employers and employees face when responding to the coronavirus and its effects on wages and hours worked under the Fair Labor Standards Act and on job-protected leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act at https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/pandemic

For more information about the laws enforced by WHD, call 866-4US-WAGE, or visit www.dol.gov/agencies/whd.

For further information about the coronavirus, please visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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.      

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