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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

PHILADELPHIA — Thousands of workers employed by contractors engaged in na

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.

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — An investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division found that Liverpool employer General Interior Systems Inc., and its president, Jeffrey T. Mento, violated the federal Fair Labor Standards Act by misclassifying more than 300 employees working as drywall installers as independent contractors and failed to pay them overtime. The department obtained a judgment in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York that required payment of $380,000 in back wages to the affected employees.

MINOT, N.D. — An investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division found that load operators at three Watco Terminal & Port Services' locations in Belfield, Stanley and Tioga were not paid for pre-shift work, as required by the federal Fair Labor Standards Act. Watco will pay 261 workers a total of $304,094 in overtime back wages.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — In a settlement agreement announced by the U.S. Department of Labor, Training Thru Placement Inc., based in North Providence, has agreed to pay a total of $300,000 to more than 100 employees, including workers with disabilities. The settlement resolves findings that, between June 1, 2010, and January 31, 2013, TTP violated the minimum wage, overtime and record-keeping provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

NEW YORK — The U.S.

TAMPA, Fla. — A multiyear enforcement initiative conducted by the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division has uncovered widespread labor violations in the central Florida agricultural industry. The initiative focused on hand-harvested crops — including citrus, strawberries, tomatoes, blueberries and watermelons — where many vulnerable migrant workers are employed and recovered average back wages of $340 per worker, more than enough to buy a week's worth of groceries.

OLDSMAR, Fla. — The U.S. Department of Labor has secured $140,393 in back wages and an equal amount of liquidated damages totaling $280,786 for 101 individuals employed by Federal Verification Co. Inc., doing business as GSA Applications based in Oldsmar, Florida. Federal Verification prepares applications for businesses that seek to obtain federal contracts. Nearly $200,000 in wages and damages is due to inside salespeople who made less than the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour.

Investigations find minimum wage, overtime, housing and transportation violations

WASHINGTON — Officials from the U.S. Department of Labor and the New Hampshire Department of Labor has signed a memorandum of understanding with the goal of protecting the rights of employees by preventing their misclassification as something other than employees, such as independent contractors or other nonemployee statuses.