Wage and Hour Division (WHD)

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COLLEGE STATION, Texas -- The U.S. Department of Labor announced today that five business entities owned by Salim Ismail of College Station will pay 41 current and former employees $36,491 in back wages for overtime violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The employer, also fined $7,478 for violations of the youth employment provisions of the FLSA, has agreed to future compliance.

An investigation by the Wage and Hour Division Houston district office, covering the period Sept. 1, 2002 to Aug. 22, 2004, determined that Salim Ismail failed to pay employees working as desk clerks, cooks, busboys, wait staff, maintenance staff and housekeepers time-and-one-half for hours worked in excess of 40 per workweek. The employer also failed to maintain accurate time and payroll records as required by the FLSA.

Salim Ismail was doing business in Texas under four separate limited partnerships and one corporation: NIC Investments L.P., doing business as Preference Inn in Bryan; Razi Hotels L.P., doing business as Holiday Inn Express Hotel and Suites in College Station; Technolodging L.P., doing business as Executive Inn in Hearne; Texas Hotel Management L.P., doing business as Brazos Valley Inn in Hearne; and Technofoods Inc., doing business as Country Kitchen in Hearne.

“Our investigation not only found that employees were not receiving the wages that they earned,” said Martin Barrow, district director for the department’s Wage and Hour Division in Houston, “but three children were found working more hours than the law allowed and a 12-year-old should never have been employed.”

Two minors were employed as Country Kitchen dishwashers in violation of the youth employment provisions of the FLSA -- a 12-year-old was under the legal age to work and a 15-year-old worked beyond the time parameters the law allows. A 14-year-old, employed in the laundry room at the Preference Inn, worked in a prohibited occupation and for more hours than permitted by law.

Under the FLSA, covered employees must be paid time-and-one-half their regular rate of pay for hours worked over 40 in a workweek. Minors under 16 may work only outside school hours -- up to three hours on a school day, 18 hours in a school week, eight hours on a non-school day and 40 hours in a non-school week. They are also limited to working between the hours of 7 a.m. and 7 p.m., except from June 1 through Labor Day when the evening hours are extended to 9 p.m. Youth under the age of 18 may not work in any occupation deemed hazardous by the Secretary of Labor.

The Wage and Hour Division recovered nearly $200 million in back wages in fiscal year 2004 for more than 288,000 workers. Average days to resolve a complaint decreased during that time from 108 to 92 days.

For more information about the FLSA, call the Wage and Hour Houston district office at (713) 339-5500 or the Department of Labor’s toll-free help line at 1-866-4USWAGE (1-866-487-9243). Information is also available on the Internet at www.wagehour.dol.gov. The YouthRules! Webpage at www.youthrules.dol.gov helps young workers, employers and parents learn more about the laws that apply to the employment of youth.

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U.S. Department of Labor releases are accessible on the Internet at www.dol.gov. The information in this news release will be made available in alternate format (large print, Braille, audio tape or disc) from the COAST office upon request. Please specify which news release when placing your request at (202) 693-7828 or TTY (202) 693-7755. The Labor Department is committed to providing America’s employers and employees with easy access to understandable information on how to comply with its laws and regulations. For more information, please visit www.dol.gov/compliance.