A Florida company owed workers who clean hotels $114,000 after shorting their pay
An Orlando company that provides cleaning and maintenance staff to hotels in Florida, South Carolina, Georgia and Missouri paid $114,354 to workers after shorting them on overtime pay, the U.S. Department of Labor announced.
That money — $57,174 in back wages, $57,174 in liquidated damages — went to 100 employees of APDC Cleaning Services, $1,143.54 per person.
Labor said its Wage and Hour Division investigators found APDC didn’t combine the time employees worked at multiple locations. So even when the employees worked over 40 hours per week, APDC was still “paying them straight-time rates for all hours worked, including overtime hours.”
That’s a Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) violation.
APDC did not answer phone calls from the Miami Herald for comment and did not respond to an email.
State records say APDC was formed in 2017 by current CEO Elsa Bardales, one of two officers listed along with president Fidel Hernandez.
“The hard work done by hospitality industry workers allows guests to enjoy their accommodations,” Wage and Hour Division District Director Wildalí De Jesús said in a statement. “Often, they work long hours and deserve to be paid all their legally earned wages, including overtime. When employees work at more than one location, their employers must combine hours worked at all locations to calculate overtime wages properly.”
To file a complaint
The Wage and Hour complaint section of Labor’s website contains information on how to file a complaint if you believe your employer has violated FLSA or other labor laws. Miami’s Wage and Hour Division office can be reached at 305-598-6607. The national helpline is 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243).
This story was originally published June 1, 2023 at 12:39 PM.
