US Department of Labor Recovers $348k in Back Wages, Liquidated Damages for 144 Arizona Construction Workers Willfully Denied Overtime Pay

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VW Connect assessed $48K in penalties for intentional violations

Agency: Wage and Hour Division
Date: June 9, 2022
Release Number: 22-1136-SAN

PHOENIX – A federal investigation has recovered $348,380 in back wages and liquidated damages for 144 underpaid workers of an Arizona construction employer who failed to pay their overtime wages.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division determined that VW Dig LLC – operating as VW Connect – automatically deducted 30-minute meal break periods every day even when employees worked through these periods, a violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act. The employer also failed to pay all hours worked due to improper recordkeeping that resulted in work hours often missing from payroll.

The investigation found the employer owed workers $174,190 in overtime wages earned for hours worked over 40 in a workweek. In addition to back wages and an equal amount of damages, the department assessed VW Connect with $47,926 in penalties for the willful nature of the violations.

“Manipulating timesheets to avoid paying a worker’s full earnings illegally denies them the wages on which they depend to care for themselves and their families. It also deprives them the dignity they are due,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Eric Murray in Phoenix. “The outcome of this investigation shows that employers who violate the law can face costly consequences in the form of damages and penalties.”

In fiscal year 2021, the Wage and Hour Division recovered more than $36 million in wages owed to more than 21,000 construction industry workers. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects more than 220,000 industry workers quit their jobs in April 2022 – the third highest number since 2012 – and 449,000 job openings in the industry, all of which makes for a job market in which employers must compete for workers.

“Employer who don’t pay workers all of the wages they’ve earned are likely to find it increasingly difficult to retain and recruit the people they need,” Murray explained. “Companies that comply with the law by paying full wages and benefits – and treating workers with the dignity and respect they deserve – will have a competitive advantage over those who cheat workers.”

Employers and workers can call the division confidentially with questions regardless of their immigration status. The department can speak with callers in more than 200 languages through the agency’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Learn more about the Wage and Hour Division, and its search tool if you think you may be owed back wages collected by the division.

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USDOL’S Wage and Hour Division Announces Priority of Protecting Workers from Retaliation

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March 16, 2022
JD Supra

On March 10, 2022, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (which enforces the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act and other federal wage and hour laws) announced that one of its top enforcement priorities is to protect workers from retaliation for exercising their rights. The USDOL launched an anti-retaliation page on its web site and published a Field Assistance Bulletin on the subject of retaliation.

In the Field Assistance Bulletin, the USDOL reiterated that both internal complaints to an employer as well as external complaints to the Wage and Hour Division or to a court are protected activities. An employee is protected from retaliation even if the employee’s internal or external complaint is determined to be without merit. The penalties for unlawful retaliation can include reinstatement (if the employee was discharged), injunctive relief (such as removal of a disciplinary memo from the employee’s file), back pay and an amount equal to the back pay owed as liquidated damages

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Department of Labor plans increase in wage-and-hour team

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By: Mass. Lawyers Weekly Staff
February 22, 2022

The U.S. Department of Labor is seeking to hire 100 investigators in its Wage and Hour Division to step up its enforcement efforts, including the protection of workers’ wages, migrant and seasonal workers, rights to family and medical leave, and prevailing wage requirements for workers on federal contracts.

Investigators’ responsibilities include:

  • Conducting investigations to determine if employers are paying workers and affording them their rights under federal law.
  • Helping ensure that employers who are following the law are not undercut by employers who violate the law.
  • Promoting compliance through outreach and public education initiatives.
  • Supporting efforts to combat worker retaliation and worker misclassification as independent contractors.

“Adding 100 investigators to our team is an important step in the right direction,” said Acting Wage and Hour Administrator Jessica Looman. “We anticipate significantly more hiring activity later in fiscal year 2022. While appropriations will determine our course of action, we are optimistic we will be able to bring new talented professionals onboard to expand our diverse team.”

In fiscal year 2021, the Wage and Hour Division collected $230 million in wages owed to 190,000 workers. Division representatives also conducted 4,700 outreach events to educate employers and workers about their workplace rights and responsibilities.

The uptick in hiring is in sync with the Biden administration’s focus on employees’ rights.

The types of violations the Wage and Hour Division looks out for include failure to follow local, state or federal minimum wage laws; failure to pay overtime; tip theft; failure to allow breaks; and failure to allow unpaid, job-protected leave after having a baby or for a medical condition, which the Family and Medical Leave Act mandates.

These violations disproportionately affect essential workers and immigrant workers, according to the DOL. Industries that tend to have more violations include food service, retail and construction.

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New wage and hour chief comes to Oregon from the national union movement (OR)

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July 10, 2019
By Don McIntish

The top Washington DC lobbyist for North America’s Building Trades Unions (NABTU) is starting a new assignment: Oregon Wage and Hour Administrator. Hired by Oregon Labor Commissioner Val Hoyle, Sonia Ramirez began her new position July 8.

Wage and Hour administrator oversees staff responsible for enforcing a range of vital workers rights laws, from minimum wage and overtime rules to child labor, farm and forest labor contracting laws, and requirements that contractors pay the prevailing wage on public construction projects.

As NABTU government affairs director in Washington, DC, Ramirez fought to defend the federal prevailing wage law, known as Davis-Bacon, from attacks by union foes in Congress. She served nine years in that capacity. Before that, she was a lobbyist on immigration policy for the national AFL-CIO.

Ramirez met Hoyle through NABTU when Hoyle went to Washington as a state legislator, but Hoyle was as surprised as any when Ramirez decided to make a career change and apply for the job in Oregon. Ramirez sees it as a continuation by other means of her work on behalf of working people.

Ramirez grew up bilingual in a building trades union household in Los Angeles, the youngest of nine children of parents who immigrated to the United States from Mexico. Her father, formerly a union member in Mexico, was a member of Laborers Local 300 in Los Angeles for 50 years. Growing up, her father’s union meant food on the table, and a chance to see Santa Claus at the union hall every year. Later, at NABTU, she became a journeyman member of her father’s local by invitation of national Laborers Union president Terry O’Sullivan. Even now as wage and hour administrator, she maintains her membership in the union.

“I’m well aware of what is at stake, and the political forces that pile up against workers,” Ramirez told the Labor Press about her new position. “Enforcing [these laws] is a very significant responsibility that I take wholeheartedly.”

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$137,000 in Back Wages Recovered for 31 Employees on Ohio Project Following USDOL Investigation

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BBC Foundation & Flatwork LLC has paid $137,705 in back wages to 31 employees of the Carleton concrete company for performing work on a federal transit project in Toledo.

An investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division found that the contractor violated the Fair Labor Standards Act, Davis-Bacon and Related Acts and the Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act.

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