Labor & Employment Law

Even the Smallest Employers Can be the Target of Wage & Hour Investigations by Federal Agencies

Think you're under the radar and too small to be pursued by the U.S. Department of Labor for allegations of wage and hour violations?  Think again.  Long Island Business News reports that the USDOL has commenced a law suit against a Pizzeria on Long Island.  According to the article:

"The suit comes after an investigation by the department's Wage and Hour Division based in Westbury that discovered that about 24 employees working at the restaurant were required to work more than 40 hours during many weeks without being properly compensated for overtime hours. In addition, many of the workers were not being paid the federal minimum wage and that the Pinellos [owners] did not keep proper records regarding the hours employees worked, their rates of pay or other conditions of their employment."

The suit seeks to order the owners to pay the employees wage and overtime back pay owed, along with an equal amount in liquidated damages.

So even if think you are too small, don't be deluded by the thought that you  have EPLI coverage to protect you.  Many EPLI policies don't cover wage and hour violations.  And for a company this small, this could put them out of business!  Better to do things right in the first place.

Full post as published by Strategic HR Lawyer on August 27, 2009 (boomark / email).