The U.S. Department of Labor has successfully recovered $145,424 in back wages and an equivalent amount in liquidated damages for 95 employees of YK Murli LLC, which operates as Baymont Inn & Suites in Georgia. The Wage and Hour Division's investigation found that the company did not combine work hours from multiple hotel locations when calculating overtime, instead paying straight-time wages for any hours worked beyond 40 in a week.
Additionally, YK Murli LLC was found to have violated the Fair Labor Standards Act by making inappropriate deductions from workers' pay through overcharging for room and board.
"Failing to pay minimum wage and overtime to workers violates the law and denies workers their rightfully earned wages," said Steven Salazar, Wage and Hour Division District Director in Atlanta. He emphasized that business owners must accept legal responsibilities when hiring workers. "The U.S. Department of Labor is committed to protecting workers’ rights to full pay and to holding employers accountable when they violate these rights."
Salazar further noted that "employers that operate more than one location cannot treat each location as a separate job. The hours for an employee who works at multiple locations during a workweek must be combined and overtime must be paid for hours over 40 in a workweek."
YK Murli LLC manages several hotels and motels across Georgia, with three locations involved in this investigation: Baymont Inn & Suites on South Main St., Quality Inn on Yonah St., and Country Inn & Suites on Edelweiss Strasse.
The Wage and Hour Division offers resources such as a search tool for those who believe they may be owed back wages. They provide confidential support to both workers and employers, with services available in over 200 languages. To ensure accurate tracking of hours worked and pay, the department also offers a free Timesheet App available on Android and iOS platforms.
