Department of Labor recovers wrongly withheld employee attendance compensation
The U.S. Department of Labor recently recovered $22,000 in back wages and damages for 26 janitors employed by Knights Facilities Management at Ralph Wilson Stadium in Buffalo, New York.
KFM required employee attendance of more than 40 hours a week for special events such as home games for the city's National Football League team, the Buffalo Bills. Instead of compensating the workers appropriately, KFM transferred them onto the payrolls of temporary staffing agencies it had contracted in order to pay them straight time rather than time-and-a-half, violating Fair Labor Standards Act regulations. The company also failed to keep accurate time and attendance records.
"To see janitors fall below the minimum wage while providing services to an industry that makes billions of dollars every year is extremely disappointing and legally unacceptable," said Michael Fitzgerald, Buffalo area director of the Wage & Hour Division. "Evasive business practices, such as using temporary staffing agencies ... are not a legal way to reduce labor costs."
Since Labor Secretary Hilda Solis took office in 2009, she has made enforcing wage and hour regulations a top priority, according to The Associated Press. The janitorial industry is prone to wage theft, along with the hotel, restaurant, healthcare and daycare industries.
KFM required employee attendance of more than 40 hours a week for special events such as home games for the city's National Football League team, the Buffalo Bills. Instead of compensating the workers appropriately, KFM transferred them onto the payrolls of temporary staffing agencies it had contracted in order to pay them straight time rather than time-and-a-half, violating Fair Labor Standards Act regulations. The company also failed to keep accurate time and attendance records.
"To see janitors fall below the minimum wage while providing services to an industry that makes billions of dollars every year is extremely disappointing and legally unacceptable," said Michael Fitzgerald, Buffalo area director of the Wage & Hour Division. "Evasive business practices, such as using temporary staffing agencies ... are not a legal way to reduce labor costs."
Since Labor Secretary Hilda Solis took office in 2009, she has made enforcing wage and hour regulations a top priority, according to The Associated Press. The janitorial industry is prone to wage theft, along with the hotel, restaurant, healthcare and daycare industries.
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