WALTERBORO, SC – A U.S. Department of Labor investigation found a Walterboro landscaping company failed to reimburse workers employed in the U.S. under the H-2B guest worker program for their travel costs and failed to pay wage rates as required.

COLUMBUS, OH– Home healthcare workers assist their clients with daily living tasks and even stay overnight at their homes to provide around-the-clock care. Despite their essential labor, these workers are sometimes denied all their rightful wages by their employer’s illegal pay practices, as federal investigators found in a recent labor investigation in Columbus.

SIOUX CITY, IA – Slaughterhouse workers spend long hours on their feet to process livestock and put beef, pork and other meats on the nation’s dinner tables – essential work that keeps Americans fed. For their labor, employers are legally required to ensure these workers are paid all their rightful wages.

CHICAGO – While Sarpino’s Pizzeria locations in Chicago promise quick delivery when customers call, the business’ operator was much less responsive when U.S. Department of Labor investigators chose to review the employer’s pay practices.

In fact, investigators with the department’s Wage and Hour Division needed a subpoena to obtain employees’ pay records and it soon became clear why the owner refused to cooperate.

PENSACOLA, FL – A commercial cleaning contractor shortchanged 19 workers at a Federal Aviation Administration worksite in Pensacola by failing to combine hours worked at different job sites and not paying prevailing wages and benefits required on federally funded contracts, the U.S. Department of Labor has found.

KANSAS CITY, MO – After long days spent toiling in fields under a hot Missouri sun, immigrant workers returned to what was once a county jail where their employer housed them in unsanitary living conditions and added to their misery by failing to pay them the wages they earned under their contract.

ORLANDO, FL – Employers cannot avoid paying overtime by simply putting employees on a salary, a costly lesson learned by a Florida equipment rental company after a U.S. Department of Labor investigation.

DETROIT – Timothy Schultz, sole owner of a now defunct Detroit-area transport company, will pay $273,820 – representing $252,416 in overtime back wages and $21,404 in interest  –  to 326 former drivers to resolve a U.S.

PORTLAND, OR – The U.S. Department of Labor enforces laws that protect workers’ rights. It also holds unscrupulous employers who shortchange their workers accountable, as it has done on behalf of 118 workers at three Oregon restaurants after an investigation revealed wage theft and other violations.

Employer name:                   Area Wide Protection Inc., doing business as Roadtek Traffic Solutions LLC                                                                                                          &nbsp

CHICAGO ‒ Careworkers put in long hours tending to the vital needs of people in their homes and at health care facilities, yet they are among the nation’s lowest paid workers. Their jobs are made even more difficult when employers fail to pay them all their rightfully earned wages.

Employer name:                                Heavenly Victory LLC, doing business as Naranjero Super 1

Investigation site:                              Albuquerque, New Mexico

AMERICAN CANYON, CA – A federal investigation has recovered $315,536 in back wages for 158 workers of American Canyon home care agency where the owner and CEO unlawfully required hourly employees who earned significant overtime to sign an agreement to be paid straight time for up to 160 hours per pay period.

LAUREL RUN, PA – An investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor recovered $221,307 in back wages and damages for 32 nursing staff employees of a Luzerne County treatment center found to be intentionally shortchanging workers of their overtime pay repeatedly.

JACKSONVILLE, FL – The miscalculation of overtime wages and child labor violations have taken a slice of the profits from the operator of three Jacksonville pizzerias, following an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor.

SAN DIEGO – Un franquiciado de McDonald’s pagará $25,920 en multas luego de que una investigación del Departamento de Trabajo de EE.UU. descubriera que el empleador asignó a empleados menores de edad trabajos peligrosos en tres ubicaciones de Santa Ana, en violación de las leyes de trabajo infantil.

SAN DIEGO – A McDonald’s franchisee has agreed to pay $25,920 in civil money penalties after a U.S. Department of Labor investigation found the employer assigned minor-aged employees at three Santa Ana locations hazardous work in violation of child labor laws.

JACKSONVILLE, FL – The U.S. Department of Labor has found $118,042 in back wages and liquidated damages due to 10 employees of a Jacksonville restaurant operator who forced servers to work for tips alone, denied overtime wages to others and failed to keep accurate records of the hours employees worked.

JACKSONVILLE, FL - El Departamento de Trabajo de los Estados Unidos ha recuperado $118,042 en concepto de salarios atrasados y daños y perjuicios liquidados a 10 empleados de un operador de restaurantes de Jacksonville que obligaba a los camareros a trabajar sólo por las propinas, negaba el pago de horas extras y no mantenía registros precisos de las horas que los empleados trabajaban.

Date of action:                       Feb. 22, 2022

Type of action:                      Complaint