A U.S. Department of Labor investigation into two commonly owned Callicoon resorts’ pay and child labor practices was no vacation for the employers after investigators uncovered violations of federal regulations.
Investigators with the department’s Wage and Hour Division found Villa Roma Resort & Conference Center Inc. and Villa Roma Resort Lodges Inc. failed to pay correct overtime wages to tipped employees when it paid them time-and-a-half on their tipped wages and not on the higher New York state rate for hours over 40 hours in a workweek. The resorts also failed to include additional payments for commissions, bonuses and side jobs in calculating employees’ regular rate of pay.
The division recovered $40,691 for 56 employees to resolve the resorts’ Fair Labor Standards Act violations.
The investigation also determined the employers allowed 11 minors, aged 14-15 years old, to work more hours than allowed by federal law. Specifically, investigators identified several instances where young employees worked up to or past 9 p.m. and 10 p.m. The division assessed the resorts $9,542 in civil money penalties for its violations of child labor provisions of the FLSA.
“Villa Roma Resort & Conference Center Inc. and Villa Roma Resort Lodges Inc. could have easily prevented these violations with knowledge and due diligence,” explained Wage and Hour Division District Director Jay I. Rosenblum in Albany, New York. “With the approach of summer and additional employment opportunities for young people, we urge employers and workers alike to review the Wage and Hour Division’s extensive online compliance assistance toolkits and to contact our office with any questions about the Fair Labor Standards Act’s wage and child labor protections.”
Federal law bars employers from allowing minors under the age of 14 to work in most situations and only permits 14- and 15-year-old employees to work until 9 p.m. from June 1 through Labor Day and not past 7 p.m., the remainder of the year. Additionally, they cannot work more than three hours on a school day (including Fridays), eight hours on a non-school day or more than 18 hours per week. To assist employers in avoiding violations, and inform young workers and their parents, the division has published its “Seven Child Labor Best Practices for Employers.”
The FLSA requires that most employees in the U.S. be paid at least the federal minimum wage for all hours worked and overtime pay at not less than time and one-half the regular rate of pay for all hours worked over 40 in a workweek.
Learn more about the Wage and Hour Division, including a search tool to use if you think you may be owed back wages collected by the division. Employers and workers can call the division confidentially with questions regardless of where they are from. The department can speak with callers confidentially in more than 200 languages through the agency’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Download the agency’s new Timesheet App for i-OS and Android devices, free and also available in Spanish -to ensure hours and pay are accurate.
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