NEDERLAND, Texas — Specialty Painting & Wall Covering Inc. and M & S Enterprise have paid 22 painters and sheetrock installers $108,783 in overtime back wages after an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division. The investigation revealed violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act's overtime and record-keeping provisions and found that workers at M & S Enterprise were misclassified as independent contractors.

PORTLAND, Ore. — Sierra Construction Co. Inc. has agreed to pay $87,239 in back wages to 39 employees who worked on The Prescott apartment building, a federally financed construction project in Portland. U.S. Department of Labor investigators found that Sierra and two of its subcontractors failed to pay the prevailing wages required by the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts.

LAS VEGAS — Like neon lights, slot machines and high-stakes gamblers, chauffeured luxury transportation is a vital feature of the fabled Las Vegas experience. For nearly 500 drivers of one Vegas limousine company, improper payroll deductions and tip credits left many chauffeurs with earnings below the minimum wage, an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division found.

Date of Action: Jan. 26, 2015

Type of Action: Lawsuit for violating anti-retaliation provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act

Name(s) of Defendant: No-Dig Tec, LLC and John Newell, President

Participants: Wage and Hour Division, Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development

Participants: Wage and Hour Division, Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development

Employer name: JAO Enterprises LLC, doing business as El Mariachi Mexican Restaurant

Investigation site: 2091 North Bend Road, Suite 150, Hebron, Kentucky

Date and what prompted investigation: The U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division's Louisville District Office initiated an investigation in August 2013 as a follow-up to a separate investigation at an affiliated restaurant.

WASHINGTON — Officials from the U.S. Department of Labor and the Florida Department of Revenue today signed a memorandum of understanding with the goal of protecting the rights of employees by preventing their misclassification as independent contractors or other nonemployee statuses. Under the agreement, both agencies will share information and coordinate law enforcement.

WASHINGTON — Officials from the U.S. Department of Labor and the Florida Department of Revenue today signed a memorandum of understanding with the goal of protecting the rights of employees by preventing their misclassification as independent contractors or other nonemployee statuses. Under the agreement, both agencies will share information and coordinate law enforcement.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — The U.S. Department of Labor has filed a lawsuit with the Office of Administrative Law Judges against LRE Royal Electrical Contractors Inc. and its owner, George E. Smith, to recover $345,077 in back wages for 61 electrical workers. The action also seeks to prevent the company and Smith from obtaining federal contracts for three years.

MONROEVILLE, N.J. — Cassaday Farms LLC has agreed to pay a total of $117,130 in back wages and $57,870 in civil money penalties to settle charges leveled by the U.S. Department of Labor that the business unlawfully rejected 13 qualified U.S. workers, who applied for seasonal employment, and showed preferential treatment to H-2A workers, in violation of the Immigration and Nationality Act.

PHILADELPHIA — The U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division announced today that it would extend the completion date to April 30, 2015, for an ongoing building and heavy construction wage survey sent to contractors and others. The survey will collect data on wages paid to laborers and mechanics on building and heavy construction projects in Maine between April 1, 2013, and March 31, 2014.

Employer name: Paul G. White Tile Co., 444 Riverside Industrial Park, Portland, Maine 04107

Investigation findings: An investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division found that the company, which advertises itself as the leading flooring contractor in Maine and one of the largest in New England, underpaid 42 employees a total of $52,000.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Florida hotel and motel workers struggle to live on low wages and often lack critical benefits like sick leave. Their lives are made harder when their employer refuses to pay them for all hours worked or for overtime premiums when employees' hours exceed 40 hours in a week. To combat the situation, the Jacksonville District Office of the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division mounted an enforcement initiative in 2013 to investigate hotels, motels and temporary staffing agencies.

PHILADELPHIA — The U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division announced today that it would extend the completion date to May 29, 2015, for an ongoing building and heavy construction wage survey sent to contractors and others. The survey will collect data on wages paid to laborers and mechanics on building and heavy construction projects in Massachusetts between June 1, 2013, and May 31, 2014.

ATLANTA — The U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division announced today that it would extend the completion date to May 29, 2015, for an ongoing building and heavy construction wage survey sent to contractors and others. The survey will collect data on wages paid to laborers and mechanics on building and heavy construction projects in Florida between April 1, 2013, and March 31, 2014.

PHOENIX — Uncle Bear's Grill & Bar eateries will pay a total of $115,252 in overtime back wages to 54 employees after an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division. The investigation included locations in Chandler, Mesa, Phoenix, Queen Creek and Surprise.

FARGO, N.D. — The U.S. Department of Labor and the U.S. Attorney for the District of North Dakota sued Bharat I. Patel and alleged his failure to pay 192 workers minimum wage and/or overtime rates at 13 hotels he owns in North Dakota and Montana. An investigation by the Wage and Hour Division found approximately $100,000 in back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages owed to front-desk clerks, housekeeping staff and other hotel employees.

PHILADELPHIA — Thousands of workers employed by contractors engaged in nat

BOISE, Idaho — Chapala Mexican Restaurant, a Boise-area restaurant chain, will pay $230,000 in back wages and liquidated damages to 51 employees after a U.S. Department of Labor investigation found overtime violations at its Boise, Nampa, Garden City and McCall locations.