The U.S. Department of Labor has announced the opening of a new office in Kendall. “Today, we announced a new office in Miami that’s closer to where our most vulnerable workers live,” Acting U.S. Labor Secretary Julie Su said.
The acting U.S. Secretary of Labor made it clear that she wanted workers to know that the Labor Department has the “power to protect working people.”
She also noted the bus stop on the sidewalk outside 11400 SW 88th St. aka 11400 N. Kendall Dr., putting the office steps away from workers whose finances give them no other transportation option or who choose often-long bus rides to work over gas, tolls, and car payments and ever-rising car insurance
The Wage and Hour Division investigates violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), which include not paying a worker for work done; paying someone under minimum wage, and not properly paying eligible workers overtime when they work beyond 40 hours in a week.
The most recent FLSA issue in Miami-Dade involved Patel Shippers, a Homestead company that owed workers $71,000 in back pay and damages. Similarly last July the division recovered more than $62,000 in back wages and liquidated damages for 38 workers after the operators of three Jacksonville hotels shortchanged their employees by failing to pay overtime as required by law.
The Wage and Hour also look into violations of various programs, including the H-2A guest worker visa program, a popular program with Florida agricultural companies. Program parameters concerning housing, meals, transportation, and pay to protect workers from abuse — when employers treat them within the lines.
Miami-Dade or Broward workers who think they’ve been violated under FLSA, H-2A, Family, and Medical Leave Act, or a number of other laws and programs can go by a Wage and Hour Division office in Kendall. (11400 SW 88th St., No. 201) or Fort Lauderdale (510 Shotgun Rd.); call 305-598-6607, 954-356-6896, or 866-487-9243 (866-4US-WAGE); or go to the complaint section of Labor’s website.
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