Wage and Hour Division (WHD)

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NEW YORK -- New Style Finishing Inc., Brooklyn, N.Y., and company owners Marian Floarea and Adriana Floarea have agreed to pay 71 employees a total of $58,919 in back wages and interest to settle a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Department of Labor alleging violations of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York following several investigations by the Labor Department’s Wage and Hour Division that disclosed violations of the FLSA’s minimum wage, overtime and recordkeeping provisions by this garment sewing contractor.

The FLSA requires that covered employees be paid at least the federal minimum wage as well as one and one-half times their regular rates of pay for hours worked beyond 40 per week. The law also requires that accurate records of employees’ wages, hours and other conditions of employment be maintained.

“Our office has completed several investigations involving this employer under various names in various locations,” said Philip Jacobson, director of the Wage and Hour Division’s district office in New York City. “The employer has twice paid back wages but has continued to violate the law by underpaying employees. At one point, these low wage workers were not paid at all for a three-week period.”

The consent judgment, signed by Judge Frederic Block, prohibits the defendants from future violations of the minimum wage, overtime, recordkeeping and anti-retaliation provisions of the FLSA and orders them to pay employees the back wages and interest in 24 installments. The defendants agreed to entry of the judgment while neither admitting nor denying the allegations in the department’s suit.

The back wages cover the period between April 1, 2006, and August 27, 2006. If the defendants fail to make the payments, the court will appoint a receiver with power to seize and liquidate their assets to satisfy the order. The defendants must advise employees in Spanish and English of their rights under the FLSA and their right to engage in protected activities without fear of retaliation. Official posters must be posted where all employees may view them.

The Wage and Hour Division concluded 31,987 compliance actions and recovered more than $171 million in back wages for more than 246,000 employees in fiscal year 2006. Back-wage collections last year represent a 30 percent increase over back wages collected in fiscal 2001. The number of workers receiving back wages has increased by 14 percent since fiscal 2001.

For more information about the FLSA, call the Department of Labor’s toll-free help line at (866) 4US-WAGE (487-9243). Information is also available on the Internet at www.wagehour.dol.govand an interactive “e-laws advisor” providing detailed information about FLSA compliance, is available at www.dol.gov/elaws/flsa.htm..

Chao v. New Style Finishing et al; Civil Action Number: 1:07-CV-02391-FB-CLP

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