New York property management company pays $44K in back wages, damages to resolve Staten Island retaliation, overtime, records violations

Employer name:                    Belmont Daniel LP, 276 Fifth Ave., Suite 704-444, New York, New York 10001

Investigation site:                  100 Belmont Place and 101 Daniel Low Terrace, Staten Island, New York 10301

Investigative findings:          The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division determined that Belmont Daniel, a property management company, engaged in retaliatory actions by terminating an employee who wrote a letter regarding wages, overtime and safety concerns at two company properties on Staten Island. 

The investigation also found the employer failed to pay time and one-half for all hours after 40 in a workweek when it paid three employees straight time for all hours worked, did not keep time records for one employee and failed to keep accurate records for other employees. 

Amounts recovered:              $8,500 in punitive damages for one employee.

                                                    $36,104 in overtime back wages for three employees.                                 

Quote:                                     “No one should suffer an employer’s retaliation because they assert their rights under the Fair Labor Standards Act or any other law,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Jorge Alvarez in New York. “The Wage and Hour Division works together with stakeholders to protect worker’s rights under federal law. We encourage stakeholders to contact our offices with questions or concerns about their rights and responsibilities under the law.”

Background:                          Learn more about the Wage and Hour Division, including a search tool to use if you think you may be owed back wages collected by the division. Employers and workers can call the division confidentially with questions, regardless of where they are from. The department can speak with callers confidentially in more than 200 languages through the agency’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Download the agency’s new Timesheet App for i-OS and Android devices – also available in Spanish – to ensure hours and pay are accurate.