The U.S. Department of Labor has fined three well-known Long Island pizzerias in Bellmore, Massapequa, and Bethpage, each doing business as Gino’s Pizza Pasta Restaurant, for a total of $181,544 in overtime back wages to 61 employees. The pizzerias were also fined $22,002 in civil money penalties to pay the government for willfully violating the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Investigators found that the employers had violated the FLSA by paying workers “straight time” wages for all hours worked, rather than time and one-half for hours worked beyond 40 per week, as well as falsified time cards in order to claim workers were being paid accurate wages. This was done in violation of the FLSA’s record-keeping provisions. See: http://www.dol.gov/whd/media/press/whdpressVB3.asp?pressdoc=Northeast/20110421.xml

Currently, the FLSA requires that employees be paid at least the federal minimum wage, which is $7.25 per hour. Employers who violate these provisions are liable to their workers for the full amount of unpaid wages as well as an equal amount in liquidated damages. Employers must also maintain accurate records of employees’ wages, hours and other conditions of employment. Furthermore, employers are prohibited from retaliating against employees who exercise their rights under the law. For more information about the FLSA, call the Wage and Hour Division’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243) or its Long Island office at 516-338-1890. Information is also available at http://www.dol.gov/whd.

If you or someone you know is not being fully compensated for all the time you work, or your employer has improperly calculated your hours worked, then you may be entitled to overtime and additional compensation. At Leeds Morelli & Brown, PC, our lawyers have extensive experience in handling employment disputes and knowledge in wage and hour law. Our office focuses on disputes dealing with overtime claims and wage and hour law violations, including violations resulting from improper wage and overtime calculations. We represent employees in wage and hour violations throughout Long Island and the New York City metropolitan area, as well as across the country. For a consultation, contact Leeds Morelli & Brown, PC at 1-888-5-JOBLAW

A class-action lawsuit filed by group of employees who claim the company that provides janitorial services at JC Penny Stores in New York and New Jersey hasn’t paid them overtime is proceeding in Long Island federal court. U.S. District Judge Joanna Seybert has certified the lawsuit, filed in 2009 in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York in Central Islip, against Ultimate Services Inc. and an executive of the company, Fred Goldring, as a class action.  The employees, all of whom live and work on Long Island, alleged that the cleaning company “regularly required” them to work more than 40 hours a week, but did not pay them overtime or for all of the hours they had worked.  There are more than 100 workers in this class action lawsuit, represented by Carle Place law firm, Leeds Morelli and Brown, P.C.

The federal overtime provisions are contained in the Fair Labor Standards Act.  Unless exempt, employees covered by the Act must receive overtime pay for hours worked over 40 in a work week at a rate not less than time and one-half their regular rates of pay. There is no limit in the Act on the number of hours employees aged 16 and older may work in any work week. The Act does not require overtime pay for work on Saturdays, Sundays, holidays, or regular days of rest, unless overtime is worked on such days.  Some categories of employees are excluded by federal law from the requirement to receive one and one-half times their regular, straight-time rate of pay.  The occupations excluded by federal law are outlined in the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), listed by the U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division at
US Department of Labor website.  New York State follows these exclusions but requires that they receive at least one and one half times the minimum rate of $7.15 for their overtime hours.

The attorneys of Leeds Morelli and Brown, P.C. are experienced and determined employment law practitioners who will fight hard to make sure your rights are preserved.  If you find your employer is engaging in questionable discriminatory behavior, we urge you to contact an attorney at Leeds, Morelli & Brown, P.C. for a free consultation at 1-888- 5 JOB LAW or our firm’s website at www.lmblaw.com.

Five former housekeepers at the Hilton Long Beach are speaking out against the hotel chain, claiming they were fired after reporting unfair working conditions to human resources.  Maria Medina, 40, said she and two other housekeepers met with human resources managers earlier this month to complain about erratic scheduling and other working conditions. The three and two others, all of whom were told they worked for a subcontractor, were fired two days later.  The group is demanding to be reinstated into full-time, permanent positions at the hotel.  The employees have reported to state investigators about what they called unfair conditions of employment.  Full article.

Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. OSHA’s role is to ensure these conditions for America’s working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education and assistance.  To help ensure that employees are free to participate in safety and health activities, the Act prohibits any person from discharging or retaliating against any employee because the employee has exercised rights under the Act.  These rights include complaining to OSHA and seeking an OSHA inspection, participating in an OSHA inspection, and participating or testifying in any proceeding related to an OSHA inspection.  For more information, visit http://www.osha.gov.

Leeds Morelli & Brown, PC is a nationally recognized firm in the area of employment law.  Our firm has had considerable success in matters of employment discrimination throughout Long Island and the New York City area.  For more information, contact Leeds, Morelli and Brown, PC at 1-800-585-4658 for a free consultation.

Dr Pepper Snapple Group CEO Larry Young earned $6.5 million last year. However, he has proposed to cut $1.50 an hour from the salaries of 350 skilled workers, while freezing pension and health care at the Mott’s applesauce plant in Williamson, N.Y.  In total, the Dr Pepper Snapple Group made $555 million in profits in 2009.  Workers at the Mott’s Williamson plant, who process half of the state’s apples into juice or sauce, have been on strike since May in opposition to the corporate-imposed $1.50 hourly pay cut. Northeastern University economist Andrew Sum says Mott’s, like most U.S. corporations, is keeping the profit. It has not been reinvested in new capital equipment and not used to help purchase new technology.  Read complete article

Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) is administered by the Wage and Hour Division (WHD). The Act establishes standards for minimum wages, overtime pay, recordkeeping, and child labor. The Act applies to employers that oversee employees who engage in interstate commerce, produce goods for interstate commerce, or handle, sell, or work on goods or materials that have been moved in or produced for interstate commerce. The Act does not cover companies with less than $500,000 in annual dollar volume of business. However, the Act does cover the following regardless of their annual dollar amount: hospitals; institutions engaged in the care of the sick, aged, mentally ill, or disabled who reside on the premises; schools for children who are mentally or physically disabled or gifted; preschools, elementary and secondary schools, and institutions of higher education; and federal, state, and local government agencies.  The Act also covers domestic service workers, such as day workers, housekeepers, chauffeurs, cooks, or full time babysitters, if they receive at least $1,700 in 2009 in cash wages from one employer in a calendar year, or if they work a total of more than eight hours a week for one or more employers. See: http://www.dol.gov/compliance/guide/minwage.htm

The attorneys at Leeds Morelli & Brown, PC, are devoted to obtaining justice for clients who are deprived of just compensation and fair labor protections. If you or someone you know has been faced with a labor dispute, unpaid overtime, wage dispute, or slave labor, please contact Leeds Morelli & Brown, PC at 1-888-585-4658, One Old Country Road, Suite 347, Carle Place, NY, 11514-1851.

Kevin Morrissey, managing editor of the Virginia Quarterly Review, committed suicide late last month when he shot himself in the head.  Now, details of turmoil within the small staff of the Virginia Quarterly Review have begun to surface as questions surrounding the suicide arise.   Family members and people close to the review say Morrissey had been complaining to the university about workplace bullying by his boss, Ted Genoways.  Multiple sources indicate that Morrissey sought help from various University of Virginia departments, including Human Resources, the President’s Office, and University Ombudsman Brad Holland.  Allegedly, the institution did virtually nothing to help.  Some close to the situation say that in the days before the death, they even warned the university that Morrissey, who suffered from serious depression, might commit suicide.  University of Virginia has no formal anti-bullying policies in place.  Full Article

Worker abuse is a widespread problem as 37% of American adults said they had been bullied at work in a 2007 Zogby poll.  Some time ago NY passed a Workplace Violence policy to protect public employees and part of that law includes worker-on-worker violence.  However, the current law only covers bullying if there is a physical assault or the explicit threat of physical violence.  The Healthy Workplace Bill recently passed in the NY State Senate and now waiting for a vote on the Assembly side is expected to fill that gap.  If the bill becomes law, workers will be able to sue for physical, psychological or economic harm due to abusive treatment on the job.  Workers who can show that they were subjected to hostile conduct — including verbal abuse, threats or work sabotage — could be awarded lost wages, medical expenses, compensation for emotional distress and punitive damages.  Read more: Full Article

The attorneys at Leeds Morelli & Brown, P.C., dedicate a large amount of their practice to employment law.  For any questions, contact an attorney at the Leeds Morelli & Brown P.C. law firm for a free consultation at 1-800-585-4658. Leeds Morelli & Brown P.C.’s website is located at www.lmblaw.com

Leeds Morelli & Brown has received an increasingly large number of calls in connection with hate crimes and labor abuses against immigrants and Latino workers over the last few years. At Leeds Morelli & Brown we often hear horror stories of workers suffering traumatic and fatal injuries at work. Leeds Morelli & Brown firmly believe that these senseless injuries and wrongful deaths must stop. Read the rest of this entry »