Wage & Hour Abuse Is Common in Hotel Industry
Violations of minimum wage, overtime, and recordkeeping provisions of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act are frequent among hotels and motels, a trend that Sommers Schwartz and the Wage & Hour Division (WHD) of the U.S. Department of Labor are trying to reverse.
According to a director in one of the WHD’s California district offices who was quoted on the HR.BLR.com website, “Failure to pay required minimum wage and overtime has been identified as typical” in the hospitality sector. His office recently settled a claim against a Days Inn franchisee over allegations that it paid 16 housekeeping employees less than $5 an hour, far less than the $7.25 federal minimum hourly wage. The franchisee agreed to pay more than $123,000 in compensation.
The WHD devotes considerable attention to noncompliance in the hospitality sector. Since 2009, it has resolved more than 5,100 cases for on behalf of some 30,000 hotel and motel workers across the country, securing $16.1 million in back wages and other damages.
If you work for a hotel or motel and suspect that your employer is withholding pay or improperly reducing your compensation, know that federal and state laws are in place to protect you. Please give us a call to discuss your situation and learn how we can help.
Jason Thompson is a nationally board certified trial attorney and co-chairs Sommers Schwartz’s Complex Litigation Department. He has a formidable breadth of litigation experience, including class action and multidistrict litigation (MDL), and practices nationwide in both state and federal courts.