Tag Archives: U.S. Department of Labor

by | November 20, 2013 · 7:12 am

Hospitality Industry Legal Risks: California Hotels Settle Federal “Wage Violation” Investigation For $60,000; Management Used Separate Payrolls For 53 Workers To Avoid Overtime Pay

Investigators determined that Miracle Springs Resort and Spa, and the nearby Desert Hot Springs Spa and Hotel, were under the same Hospitality Industry Wage Violation Lawsuitsmanagement, but they recorded employee hours on separate payrolls. When the affected employees’ hours were combined, the hours often totaled more than 40 per week, entitling the employees to overtime compensation for hours worked beyond 40 per week. Additionally, the employer would automatically deduct a 30-minute lunch break from some employees’ work hours, even when employees did not take the break.

The hotel Miracle Springs Resort and Spa of Desert Hot Springs has agreed to pay $59,790 in back wages to 53 employees, including maintenance and housekeeping employees, following an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division. The investigation found violations of the overtime provision of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

“Hotel owners and operators must ensure that their employees are properly compensated for all work hours,” said Kenneth Morrison, director of the Wage and Hour Division’s San Diego District Office. “We are pleased that these workers will be paid their rightful overtime wages and that the employer has agreed to make the appropriate changes to prevent future FLSA violations.”

The employer, along with paying the full back wages to the affected employees, will maintain future FLSA compliance by agreeing to combine the hours for employees who work at both hotel locations. The employer will deduct lunch breaks only when employees take the 30-minute break.

The hotel and motel industry employs many low-wage workers who, due to a lack of knowledge of the law or an unwillingness to exercise their rights, are vulnerable to disparate treatment and labor violations. The Wage and Hour Division is concerned about the noncompliance in this industry and is concentrating its resources on identifying and remedying violations, informing workers of their rights and providing compliance assistance to employers.

For more: http://www.dol.gov/whd/media/press/whdpressVB3.asp?pressdoc=Western/20131118.xml

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by | September 10, 2013 · 6:16 am

Hospitality Industry Legal Risks: Florida Hotel Violated Federal Wage & Labor Laws By Creating “Employment Relationship” By “Directly Supervising” Staffing Company Employees

“…investigators determined that the hotel was liable for repayment of back wages because hotel staff had directly supervised those employed Hospitality Industry Wage Violation Lawsuitsby the staffing agency, creating what Young referred to as “joint employment relationship”…generally the using company tries to avoid the responsibility of the employers by staying out of the direct supervision of the employees or payment…however, we found there was enough direct supervision by Castillo Real employees on the staffing company’s employees to then create an employment relationship…Based on that relationship the hotel was found liable for the repayment of back wages…”

The U.S. Department of Labor found that two-thirds of the staffing companies that provide employees to north Florida’s hospitality industry investigated as part of a new initiative were not in compliance with federal wage and labor laws.

According to a DOL release, the hotel will pay $17,890 in back wages after it was discovered that employees provided by staffing company Maja LLC regularly were not paid overtime after working more than 40 hours a week providing services such as housekeeping and laundering. Additionally, some weeks employees’ wages fell below the federally required minimum wage.

Michael Young, district director of the DOL’s Wage and Hour Division’s Jacksonville District Office said the practice of using staffing companies to fill positions formerly managed by hotels themselves is becoming more prevalent across the country. The initiative looking into compliance among staffing companies was undertaken in four of the 10 districts in the Southeast.

For more:  http://news.wjct.org/post/investigation-finds-north-florida-hotels-violated-federal-labor-laws

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by | February 23, 2013 · 8:35 am

Hospitality Industry Legal Risks: New York Restaurants Now “Randomly Targeted” For Wage Violations By Labor Department; “Liquidated Damages” Can Double Back Wages Owed

“…officials at the local U.S. Department of Labor office say that in prior years, they relied on employee tips to launch investigations… the random inspections now drive as many investigations as employee Hospitality Industry Wage Violation Lawsuitscomplaints…those probes increasingly turned up egregious violations including kitchen workers being paid as little as $2 an hour…Starting in 2011, the office launched a restaurant initiative, focusing on a different segment each year. The initial focus was pizza and pasta restaurants. Last year it was diners; this year, Asian restaurants…”

The U.S. Department of Labor is targeting Long Island‘s largest private-sector employer, the restaurant industry, charging it with widespread minimum-wage and overtime violations.

The department has launched a campaign of random inspections with growing impact: In the 12 months through Sept. 30, it obtained court orders against 89 employers for such violations on the Island — about half of the roughly 180 orders obtained in all the United States by the Wage and Hour Division of the Department of Labor, according to Irv Miljoner, the Westbury-based district director for Long Island. Of the Island employers being sanctioned, 66 are restaurants.

As part of the stepped-up litigation, local Labor officials are increasingly seeking liquidated damages, which double the back wages owed. “Before this we would just go in and we would get back wages for a two-year period, and they would pay it and we’re done,” said Richard Mormile, assistant director of the Long Island office. “We have upped those consequences.”

Overall in fiscal year 2012, the office’s investigators found that local employers, mostly restaurants and diners, owed $8.6 million in back wages, up 28 percent from $6.7 million they uncovered the year before.

This year’s effort has already resulted in one of the largest settlements ever for the local office. An Asian restaurant chain with two locations on Long Island — Asian Moon, in Garden City and Massapequa Park — and a location in Westchester agreed to a court order requiring it to pay more than $1 million to settle charges that it underpaid 255 employees over three years and altered records to hide the violations. The department’s lawsuit charged that food preparers and dishwashers worked 55 hours a week without being paid overtime.

For more:  http://www.newsday.com/classifieds/jobs/u-s-labor-dept-checks-li-restaurants-for-wage-violations-1.4694410

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