ATLANTA, GA – After a U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division investigation, Insight Global LLC will pay $354,978 in back wages to 14 employees for violating provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and the McNamara-O’Hara Service Contract Act (SCA). The Atlanta-based staffing and consulting company committed the violations during performance as a subcontractor to Hewlett Packard on an information technology contract with the U.S. Department of the Navy.

PHOENIX, AZ – After a U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division investigation, the U.S. District Court of Arizona entered a consent judgment that requires Scottsdale construction contractor MNI Enterprises Inc. to pay $214,392 in back wages to 145 employees for violating the overtime provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The court also ordered the employer to pay an additional $25,608 in penalties because of the willful and repeated nature of the violations found.

SAN DIEGO, CA – After a U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division investigation, the Department has reached a settlement with A&D General Contracting Inc., the prime contractor on two federally funded local projects, to pay 16 landscaping employees $52,969 in back wages after its subcontractor Amigos Design Build Landscapes Inc. failed to pay legally required prevailing wages and later declared bankruptcy.

URBANDALE, IA – After a U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division investigation, majority owner of two Iowa restaurants Gloria Ochoa has paid $833,992 in back wages to 64 employees to resolve federal wage violations, including falsifying payroll and time records and failing to pay required minimum wages and overtime. Wage and Hour Division investigators determined that Ochoa, majority owner of Rojas LLC and Ocha Inc., which do business as El Rodeo Mexican Restaurants in Urbandale and in Clive, violated the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

SEATTLE, WA – After a U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division investigation, Rivera Orchards Inc. has paid $19,297 in penalties to resolve Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act (MSPA) violations that posed a direct and imminent threat to its employees.

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division has developed a series of helpful instructional videos that provide valuable assistance to employers and further ensure compliance with the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) to the benefit of the American workforce.

ELKINS, WV – After a U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division investigation, a federal jury has entered a verdict against Randolph County Sheltered Workshop Inc. - doing business as Seneca Designs - and ordered the Elkins nonprofit to pay $119,040 in back wages to 34 employees. Entered in the U.S District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia-Elkins Division, the investigation found that the organization violated the minimum wage provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

RINGOES, NJ - After a U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division investigation, Mavrode Farms LLC—a Ringoes, New Jersey, wholesale florist supplier—has paid $76,374 to 13 employees to resolve violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The Division also assessed civil money penalties totaling $2,633 for the violations.

HONOLULU, HI – Neptune Construction Group Inc., a Florida-based construction company, has agreed to pay 38 employees working at various Hawaii locations $173,320 after a U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division investigation found Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) overtime pay violations.

Operating with offices in Kailua Kona and in Palm Harbor, Florida, Neptune Construction serves the entire U.S. and specializes in remodeling and renovation of hotel properties.

MEMPHIS, TN – After an investigation by U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee has ordered Capital Construction Inc. and its owner, Justin B. Herter, to pay $188,244 in back wages and liquidated damages to 37 employees for violating the overtime and recordkeeping provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

LYON STATION, PA – The U.S. Department of Labor has filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania against a Berks County battery manufacturer after an investigation found overtime and recordkeeping violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).   

FOLEY, AL – After a U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division investigation, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Alabama has ordered Riviera Stoneworks Inc., Hood’s Discount Home Center of Foley Inc., and Michael J. Hood, the operator of both companies, to pay $28,307 in back wages and liquidated damages to 28 employees for violating the overtime and recordkeeping provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

ATLANTA, GA – After a U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division investigation, two Marietta-based hotels have paid $73,732 in back wages and liquidated damages to 14 employees for violating minimum wage, overtime, and recordkeeping provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

GUAYNABO, PR – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division will be on St. Croix and St. Thomas through March 21 to investigate wage issues and provide compliance assistance related to work done in connection with recovery efforts following Hurricanes Maria and Irma.

HUNTSVILLE, AL – After a U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division investigation, a Huntsville, Alabama, security company and two subcontractors will pay $1,184,722 in back wages to 236 employees after a U.S. Department of Labor investigation found the companies violated provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), Service Contract Act (SCA), and the Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act (CWHSSA).

ATLANTA, GA – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division is conducting a survey of wages paid to workers in 74 metropolitan Georgia counties on all active building and heavy construction projects to establish prevailing wage rates required under the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts (DBRA).

HOUSTON, TX – After an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division, a Houston-based pool construction company, South Bay Gunite Inc., will pay $115,786 in back wages to 68 employees to resolve violations of the overtime and recordkeeping provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Wage and Hour Division of the U.S. Department of Labor is announcing a new pilot program, the Payroll Audit Independent Determination (PAID) program, which expedites resolution of inadvertent overtime and minimum wage violations under the Fair Labor Standards Act.

The PAID program will ensure that more employees receive back wages they are owed—faster.  Employees will receive 100 percent of the back wages paid, without having to pay any litigation expenses, attorneys’ fees, or other costs that may be applicable to private actions. 

HONOLULU, HI – The U.S. Department of Labor has finalized a series of settlements with contractors on Saipan in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands that will pay a collective $13.9 million in back wages and damages to thousands of employees who came from China to build the Saipan Casino and Hotel on the island.

SEATTLE, WA – The U.S. Department of Labor has filed suit against a northern Washington berry farm for violating the labor provisions of the H-2A visa program. Sakuma Brothers Farms Inc. and the Washington State Farm Labor Association have been assessed $124,575 in civil money penalties and an additional $9,599 for failing to pay back wages to an eligible U.S. worker who was not hired and to workers who drove the buses that transported workers to the farm.