Tag Archives: Department of Labor

Hospitality Industry Management Update: “New Year, New Challenges: What Hospitality Employers Need to Know”

As state and federal budget cuts tend to wane, the Department of Labor (DOL) is expected to step up enforcement against hospitality employers in the coming year. restaurant workerBecause the DOL considers the hospitality industry as a “fissured” industry, owners, franchisors, franchisees and management companies should be prepared to deal with inquiries, particularly in the areas of tipped employees and the misclassification of employees.

According the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the hospitality sector added 321,000 additional jobs in 2014. With all those new employees, as well as the continued addition of jobs we expect to see in coming year, here are our top predictions for labor law issues that will play a vital role in the hospitality industry in 2015.

For more: http://bit.ly/17E9sRJ

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Filed under Employee Benefits, Hotel Employees, Hotel Industry, Hotel Restaurant, Labor Issues, Management And Ownership, Training

Hospitality Industry OSHA Update: “Updates to OSHA’s Recordkeeping Rule”

“OSHA will now receive crucial reports of fatalities and severe work-related injuries and illnesses that will significantly osha-logoenhance the agency’s ability to target our resources to save lives and prevent further injury and illness. This new data will enable the agency to identify the workplaces where workers are at the greatest risk and target our compliance assistance and enforcement resources accordingly.”

-Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health, Dr. David Michaels OSHA’s updated recordkeeping rule expands the list of severe injuries that employers must report to OSHA.

As of January 1, 2015, all employers must report

  1. All work-related fatalities within 8 hours.
  2. All work-related inpatient hospitalizations, all amputations and all losses of an eye within 24 hours.

You can report to OSHA by

  1. Calling OSHA’s free and confidential number at 1-800-321-OSHA (6742).
  2. Calling your closest Area Office during normal business hours.
  3. Using the new online form that will soon be available.

Only fatalities occurring within 30 days of the work-related incident must be reported to OSHA. Further, for an in-patient hospitalization, amputation or loss of an eye, these incidents must be reported to OSHA only if they occur within 24 hours of the work-related incident.

For more: http://1.usa.gov/1oJPwyW

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Filed under Claims, Employee Practices, Hotel Employees, Hotel Industry, Management And Ownership, Risk Management

Hospitality Industry Employment Risks: New York Restaurants Settle Federal “Wage Violation” Lawsuit For $288,000; Failed To Pay Workers Overtime, Operated “Illegal Tip Pool”

“…The restaurants’ failure to pay them overtime dropped their pay below the federal minimum of $7.25 an hour, the department said. Employees Hospitality Industry Wage Violation Lawsuitscovered by federal minimum-wage and overtime laws must be paid at least 11/2 times their regular hourly wage they when they work more than 40 hours a week…the restaurants operated an “illegal tip pool” in which tipped employees were forced to share their tips with the kitchen staff…”

Two Nassau sushi restaurants and an executive have agreed to pay more than $288,000 to settle federal charges that they “willfully” failed to pay 70 workers minimum wage and overtime, the U.S. Labor Department said.

Xaga Sushi in Merrick and Hewlett, and their president, Mei Yu Zhang, agreed to pay $261,887 in back wages and $26,322 in penalties, the Labor Department announced Monday.

The department contends the restaurants failed to pay the servers, busboys and kitchen staff overtime, even when some employees regularly worked as many as 50 hours a week. Instead, they were paid a flat monthly rate no matter how many hours they worked, the department said.

For more: http://www.newsday.com/classifieds/jobs/2-nassau-sushi-restaurants-to-pay-288g-to-settle-wage-charges-1.6581960

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Filed under Employment Practices Liability, Labor Issues, Liability, Management And Ownership, Risk Management

Hospitality Industry Legal Risks: Texas And New Mexico Hotels Pay $78,000 To Settle Department Of Labor “Wage Violation Lawsuit”; Staff Paid Flat Rate Without Regard To Hours Worked

Investigators found that the MCM Elegante and MCM Grande Hotels paid housekeeping staff a flat rate per room cleaned, without regard to the Hospitality Industry Wage Violation Lawsuitsnumber of hours worked. When these employees worked more than 40 hours in a week, the employers continued to pay only this flat rate, failing to pay overtime at one and one-half times the employees’ regular rates of pay, as required by the FLSA. A housekeeper paid $3 per room, cleaning three rooms per hour, would earn $450 for a 50-hour week at the piece rate, without overtime. The employee would legally be due $495, a shortage of $45.

MCM Elegante and MCM Grande Hotels in New Mexico and Texas have paid $78,876 in overtime back wages to 200 dishwashers, bartenders, wait staff, bellmen, housekeeping, and maintenance workers following an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD).

The investigation allegedly found overtime, minimum wage, and recordkeeping violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Employees in Albuquerque, New Mexico and several cities in Texas, were not properly paid wages they were due. The hotels are owned by HTL Operating LLC, based in Odessa, Texas.

As a result of the investigation, the employer has agreed to comply with the FLSA at all of its locations. It will pay the back wages found due in full.

For more:  http://compensation.blr.com/Compensation-news/Compensation/FLSA-Fair-Labor-Standards-Act/Hotel-employees-owed-79000-in-back-wages/#

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Filed under Employment Practices Liability, Labor Issues, Liability, Management And Ownership, Risk Management

Hospitality Industry Employment Risks: South Carolina Restaurants Ordered To Pay $391,000 In Back Wages To Workers; Servers Paid Below Mandated $2.13 Per Hour And Received Tips Only

“…the restaurants agreed to maintain future compliance with the FLSA by keeping accurate records of employees’ work hours, wages and other required employment information; paying all employees at least the Hospitality Industry Wage and Hour Litigationfederal minimum wage; and providing overtime compensation and informing employees in advance that the tip credit will be used…”

Three restaurants in South Carolina have been ordered to pay $391,000 in back wages to workers, as the result of a Department of Labor investigation. The restaurants, all individually owned branches of the San Jose Mexican restaurant chain, owe 37 employees wages for overtime and minimum wages. The DOL’s Wage and Hour Division also found violations in record-keeping provisions.

Following widespread noncompliance in the state’s restaurant industry, the Wage and Hour Division began a multiyear enforcement initiative. Since 2009, more than $2.5 million has been paid to workers, following 2,500 investigations.

All three of the restaurants failed to properly compensate employees. Servers were paid below the mandated $2.13 per hour and made to rely on tips for pay. Other employees were paid flat salaries below the minimum wage requirements, with no regard to hours worked.

For more:  http://ohsonline.com/articles/2012/12/21/three-restaurants-must-pay-391000-in-employee-back-wages.aspx?admgarea=news

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Filed under Labor Issues, Liability, Management And Ownership, Training

Hospitality Industry Employment Risks: California Restaurants In "Well-Known Tourist Areas" Investigated By U.S. Dept. Of Labor Agree To Pay $670,000 In "Unpaid Minimum Wages And Overtime"

“…(Wage and Hour Division investigators)…found widespread labor violations among restaurants in well-known tourist areas in San Francisco and throughout Los Angeles County…culture of noncompliance Hospitality Industry Wage and Hour Litigationadversely impacts the wages and working conditions of many low-wage, vulnerable workers…”

Wage and Hour Division investigators with the U.S. Department of Labor conducted comprehensive reviews of payroll records and employment practices in both San Francisco and Los Angeles, in addition to employee interviews, and found that restaurants were violating minimum wage, overtime and record-keeping provisions.

As a result, 273 restaurant workers will divvy up $672,333 in unpaid minimum wages and overtime compensation, according to the feds.

The Fair Labor Standards Act requires that covered employees be paid at least the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour, as well as time-and-a-half of their regular rates for hours worked over 40 per week. The law also says employers must keep accurate records of employees’ wages, hours and other conditions of employment, and prohibits employers from retaliating against employees who exercise their rights under the law. If employers don’t abide by these rules, they are liable to pay back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages to employees.

For more:  http://blogs.sfweekly.com/thesnitch/2012/12/restuarant_workers_wage_and_hour_division.php

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Filed under Employment Practices Liability, Labor Issues, Liability, Management And Ownership

Hospitality Industry Legal Risks: Colorado-Based Restaurant Group Will Defend Itself Against Class-Action Lawsuit Alleging Overtime Violations; Company Maintains That Managerial Salaried Employees Are "Apprentices"

“…The class-action complaint…says Chipotle misclassified its “apprentices” as managerial salaried employees who don’t qualify for overtime pay. The suit contends apprentices earn salaries of $40,000 but frequently work more than 40 hours a week and often perform the duties of hourly workers, including cooking and filling orders…”

Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. says a lawsuit alleging the Colorado- based company has failed to pay overtime to hundreds of employees is frivolous.

Chipotle spokesman Chris Arnold said the restaurant chain carefully defines the roles in its restaurants and that the apprentice position is “clearly” a managerial role ineligible for overtime, under state and federal laws.

The lawsuit seeks back pay and damages. Chipotle has about 1,350 restaurants.

For more:  http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/west/2012/11/19/271081.htm

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Filed under Employment Practices Liability, Insurance, Labor Issues, Management And Ownership, Training

Hospitality Industry Legal Risks: Oklahoma Restaurant Group Sued By Labor Department For Violating Fair Labor Standards Act; Fixed Salaries Without Overtime And Tips Alleged

“…FLSA-covered employees, who in some cases worked as many as 72 hours in a week, were paid a fixed salary without overtime compensation for hours beyond 40 in a week. In addition to overtime violations, this practice resulted in minimum wage violations because employees did not always receive at least the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. Investigators also found that wait personnel were required to turn their tips over to management at the end of every shift, which caused their pay to fall below the minimum wage. Finally, the employer did not keep proper records as required…”

The U.S. Department of Labor has filed a lawsuit against Tulsa-based El Tequila LLC and owner Carlos Aguirre after an investigation by the department’s Wage and Hour Division found that the defendants violated the Fair Labor Standards Act’s minimum wage, overtime and record-keeping provisions. These violations resulted in a total of approximately $1 million in unpaid wages owed to 221 kitchen and wait staff, hosts and bussers at four restaurant locations.

The suit was filed in the Northern District of Oklahoma, Tulsa Division, and it seeks to recover the full amount of back wages for the employees as well as an injunction prohibiting future violations of the FLSA.

“The restaurant industry employs some of our country’s lowest-paid, most vulnerable workers,” said Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis. “When violations of the FLSA are discovered, the Labor Department will take appropriate action to ensure workers receive the wages they have earned and to which they are legally entitled.”

Violations were found at the company’s restaurants on Memorial Drive and South Howard Avenue in Tulsa, East 86nd Street North in Owasso and North Elm Place in Broken Arrow.

The FLSA requires that covered, nonexempt employees be paid at least the federal minimum wage of $7.25 for all hours worked, plus time and one-half their regular rates for hours worked beyond 40 per week. In accordance with the FLSA, an employer of a tipped employee is required to pay no less than $2.13 an hour in direct wages provided that amount plus the tips received equals at least the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour. If an employee’s tips combined with the employer’s direct wages do not equal the minimum wage, the employer must make up the difference. Employers are required to provide employees notice of the FLSA’s tip credit provisions, to maintain accurate time and payroll records, and to comply with the act’s restrictions applying to workers under age 18.

For more: http://www.dol.gov/opa/media/press/whd/WHD20122050.htm#.UIqdN4b0_h8

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Filed under Employment Practices Liability, Labor Issues, Liability, Management And Ownership, Risk Management, Training

Hospitality Industry Employment Risks: Hotel Management Must Perform Regular "Self-Audits" To Determine If Company Is Properly Classifying Workers As Employees Or Independent Contractors

“(The hotel) industry in particular has a tradition of using staffing companies and other staffing arrangements to provide workers, and I think that industry tradition has provided problems for some hotel companies,”

“Hotel companies need to be ahead of the law…do a self-audit … If you’re not compliant, you can take remedial measures to avoid fines from the Department of Labor.”

As the U.S. Department of Labor under the Obama administration is cracking down harder on violations, staying informed about employee misclassification is crucial for hotel operators if they want to avoid costly fines, according to employment attorneys.

Because employment laws often can be complicated, Feldstein suggests employers classify employees themselves by applying the “Right-to-Control” test.

The Right-to-Control test compares the ends versus the means in producing the work the employee was hired to do. If the employer is concerned with only the end result, the employee should be classified an independent contractor.

However, if the employer controls the means and methods of the project in addition to establishing the routine and schedule, it is likely the worker should be classified an employee.

Should an employer need further information, the U.S. Department of Labor website contains basic guidelines that serve as a good starting point, Chapman said.

“There are HR organizations such as (the Society for Human Resource Management) that conduct training and research and guidance on this law and others, which can be helpful,” he said.

Applying the law to a specific set of facts to determine whether or not that individual should be classified as an employee or independent contractor might require the help of an actual practicing attorney, Chapman said.

For more:  http://www.hotelnewsnow.com/Articles.aspx/8674/Classify-employees-properly-to-avoid-penalty

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Filed under Employment Practices Liability, Labor Issues, Liability, Management And Ownership, Training

Hospitality Industry Employee Risks: Minnesota Restaurant Must "Reinstate" Fired Workers With "Back Pay" According To National Labor Relations Board Ruling

 “…the judge ruled the workers must be reinstated within 14 days and are eligible for back pay — about $10,000 each…”

Six local Jimmy John’s workers fired more than a year ago should get their jobs back, a National Labor Relations Board judge ruled last week. The workers were fired after plastering parts of the Twin Cities with fliers claiming the restaurant’s customers were at risk of illness because of a sick-day policy requiring workers to find their own replacement if they were sick.

On Friday the judge ruled the workers must be reinstated within 14 days and are eligible for back pay — about $10,000 each, according to an estimate by Erik Forman, who lost his job at the West End Jimmy John’s store in St. Louis Park, Minn.

The stores’ owners have not yet decided whether to appeal the judge’s ruling.

“It’s a big victory. It’s not unexpected for us — we’ve known for a long time that our posters and our right to speak out about health and safety issues are legally protected,” Forman said. “But we’re glad to see that we’re one step closer to getting back to work and exercise our right to organize.”

In a March 2011 letter to franchise co-owner Rob Mulligan, Jimmy John’s workers called the sick-day policy a risk to the public’s safety, as it required workers to find their own replacement or go unpaid if they didn’t work, creating an incentive to work while ill.

For more: http://www.mndaily.com/2012/04/24/fired-jimmy-john%E2%80%99s-workers-work-again-judge-rules

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Filed under Employment Practices Liability, Labor Issues, Liability, Management And Ownership, Risk Management, Training