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U.S. Department of Labor Continues
to Investigate
With all of the current and ongoing issues surrounding the operations
of any business, it is important for owners and managers to remember
that some things have not changed. Specifically, the Wage and
Hour Division of the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) continues
to investigate allegations of violations of labor laws. When
a violation occurs, fines and other penalties are sure to be
imposed.
Below are five recent examples of violations which were discovered
and addressed by the DOL. Employers should continue to be aware
of these laws and understand the importance of compliance.
A company’s best defense against
the potential expense and aggravation related to federal or state
law violations is to proactively review and revise as needed
all Human Resources policies, handbooks, hiring procedures, compensation,
benefits, training programs, communications tools and other functions.
The professionals of PHHR are ready to assist your organization
with this type of training as well as to maintain compliance
with the latest state and federal mandates.
- S & O Groceries, Inc., operating as Bravo
Supermarket in Fort Myers, Florida, has paid $13,781 in back
wages to two employees after a U.S. Department of Labor Wage
and Hour Division (WHD) investigation found overtime violations
of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The Department also
assessed the grocery store a civil penalty of $806 for the
repeat nature of the violations.
WHD investigators determined S & O Groceries,
Inc. paid two store clerks flat salaries, regardless of the
number of hours they worked. This practice resulted in violations
when those employees worked more than 40 hours in a workweek
without the employer paying them overtime. WHD found the same
violation in a 2017 investigation of this employer.
- After an investigation
by the WHD, Jerezee Construction, a construction company based
in Las Vegas, Nevada, will pay $3,270 in back wages after wrongly
denying paid sick leave to an employee whose healthcare provider
advised him to self-quarantine following a potential coronavirus
exposure, and failing to pay overtime.
WHD investigators found
Jerezee Construction’s failure
to provide paid sick leave violated the Families First Coronavirus
Act (FFCRA). Investigators also found the employer failed to
display or distribute the FFCRA poster advising workers of
their rights. Additionally, the employer failed to pay the
employee overtime for hours worked beyond 40 in a workweek,
in violation of the FLSA. Jerezee also failed to keep accurate
records of the number of hours the employee worked.
- Computer manufacturer
Lenovo Inc. has paid an employee $108,152 to resolve violations
of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).
WHD investigators
determined that Lenovo, headquartered in Morrisville, North
Carolina, failed to reinstate an eligible employee upon return
from FMLA leave to the same or equivalent position the worker
held prior to the leave, as the law requires. Instead, the
employer offered the employee an opportunity to apply for other
company positions. After Lenovo failed to hire the worker for
any of the alternative positions, the employer terminated the
employee.
- After an investigation by the WHD, Boston Coffee,
Inc., the operator of a Suwanee, Georgia, Dunkin’ location,
has paid $1,040 in back wages after wrongly denying emergency
paid sick leave to an employee who self-quarantined after receiving
a coronavirus diagnosis.
WHD investigators found Boston Coffee
Inc. violated requirements of the FFCRA by denying the paid
sick leave. After WHD contacted the employer, they agreed to
pay the back wages and comply with the FFCRA’s requirements
in the future.
- After investigations
by the WHD, three Mississippi poultry processing plants have
paid $45,719 in back wages to 129 employees to resolve minimum
wage and overtime violations of the FLSA.
The investigations found
the employers failed to pay final paychecks to multiple workers,
resulting in minimum wage violations. In addition, WHD found
Pearl River Foods made illegal deductions from some employees’ paychecks
for uniform items like gloves and aprons, resulting in minimum
wage violations when those deductions caused employees’ rates
of pay to fall below the federal minimum wage. WHD also determined
Koch Foods of Mississippi failed to include production bonuses
in employees’ regular rates
of pay when calculating overtime. Excluding those bonuses,
and basing overtime only on workers’ hourly rates, resulted
in the employer paying overtime at rates lower than those required
by law.
WHD also assessed Koch Foods a $1,693 civil penalty for violating
child labor requirements of the FLSA when they employed a 15-year-old
minor to work in meat processing, a prohibited occupation for
workers under the age of 18.
A company’s best defense against
the potential expense and aggravation related to federal or state
law violations is to proactively review and revise as needed
all Human Resources policies, handbooks, hiring procedures, compensation,
benefits, training programs, communications tools and other functions.
The professionals of PHHR are ready to assist your organization
with this type of training as well as to maintain compliance
with the latest state and federal mandates.
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