Wage and Hour Division (WHD)

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GUAYNABO, Puerto Rico -- A U.S. District Judge in Puerto Rico has ordered Hotel Oasis Inc., doing business in San German as Parador Oasis, and the company’s president to pay 282 current and former employees a total of $282,541 in back wages and liquidated damages. The court action resolves a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Department of Labor alleging violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

"Without admitting liability, the defendants have agreed to entry of a consent judgment by the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts ordering them to pay 20 employees $30,347.49 in overtime back wages and $6,069.51 in liquidated damages. They have also agreed to consent findings in a related administrative complaint requiring them to pay the Labor Department $11,000 in civil money penalties. The administrative complaint alleged repeated willful violations of the overtime provisions of the FLSA.

An amended judgment, signed June 16 by U.S. District Judge Daniel R. Dominguez, orders Hotel Oasis and Lionel Lugo Rodriguez to pay within 30 days a total of $141,270 in minimum wage and overtime back wages, plus an equal amount in liquidated damages. The court order also prohibits the defendants from future violation of the minimum wage, overtime and record keeping provisions of the FLSA.

The law requires that employees be paid at least the applicable federal minimum wage and time and one-half their regular rate of pay for hours worked over 40 in a workweek. Employers must also maintain accurate records of employees’ wages, hours and other conditions of employment.

According to David R. Heffelfinger, district director for the Labor Department’s Wage and Hour Division in Guaynabo, hotel workers covered by the court order include cooks and housekeeping, front desk, wait and maintenance staff. The back wages and liquidated damages cover the period April 17, 1991 through Sept. 30, 1995.

“At trial, our attorney demonstrated that the employer’s violations were willful. In part, that’s why we won liquidated damages equal to the amount of the back wages due,” said Heffelfinger. “Employers must take seriously their responsibility to pay their employees properly for all hours they work, and they must understand that we will make every effort to ensure that they do so.”

The Labor Department’s Guaynabo Wage and Hour Division office investigated this case, and the lawsuit was filed by the Labor Department’s Regional Solicitor’s Office in New York City. For more information about the requirements of the FLSA, call the Department of Labor’s toll-free help line at 1-866-4USWAGE (1-866-487-9243) or contact the Guaynabo Wage and Hour office at 787-775-1947. Information is also available on the Internet at www.wagehour.dol.gov.

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