Following a U.S. Department of Labor investigation, a St. Joseph-based janitorial firm has been ordered to pay employees back wages and liquidated damages to resolve overtime violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act.
A consent judgement issued by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Michigan has led Shoreline Building Services LLC – and its owner Crystal Middleton – to pay 11 employees $10,000 to settle the dispute.
The court’s action follows a U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division (WHD) investigation that found the St. Joseph-based janitorial services company violated the FLSA when it failed to pay employees overtime after working more than 40 hours in a workweek. Instead, the employer paid overtime based upon a two-week or longer pay period. Shoreline Building Services also calculated overtime incorrectly for employees who worked in multiple positions at different rates of pay during a pay period. Additional violations resulted when the employer failed to record or pay for time employees spent traveling between work sites during the workday.
The Wage and Hour Division cited record-keeping violations as a result of Middleton’s failure to maintain accurate records of the number of hours employees worked per day and per week.
In the October 31, 2020, consent judgment just released today, the court ordered Shoreline Building Services to pay the back wages and adhere to FLSA record-keeping requirements, including the proper recording of hours worked and maintenance of required time records in the future.
Wage and Hour Division District Director Mary O’Rourke in Grand Rapids, says, “Reaching a consent judgment to order Shoreline Building Services to maintain accurate records and pay employees as required under the Fair Labor Standards Act demonstrates Wage and Hour’s commitment to ensuring a level playing field for employers and protecting the rights of American workers.”
The Department offers numerous resources to ensure employers have the tools they need to understand their responsibilities and to comply with federal law, such as online videos, and confidential calls to local WHD offices.
For more information about the FLSA and other laws enforced by the Wage and Hour Division, you can contact the toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Information is also available at https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd.
WHD’s mission is to promote and achieve compliance with labor standards to protect and enhance the welfare of the nation’s workforce. WHD enforces federal minimum wage, overtime pay, record-keeping and child labor requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act. WHD also enforces the paid sick leave and expanded family and medical leave requirements of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act, the Employee Polygraph Protection Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act, wage garnishment provisions of the Consumer Credit Protection Act and a number of employment standards and worker protections as provided in several immigration related statutes. Additionally, WHD administers and enforces the prevailing wage requirements of the Davis Bacon Act and the Service Contract Act and other statutes applicable to federal contracts for construction and for the provision of goods and services.
The mission of the Department of Labor is to foster, promote and develop the welfare of the wage earners, job seekers and retirees of the United States; improve working conditions; advance opportunities for profitable employment; and assure work-related benefits and rights.
