Minimum wage, overtime, and recordkeeping violations prevent hotel and motel employees from receiving all of the compensation they deserve.
Maids, housekeepers, maintenance staff, front desk personnel, bar and restaurant servers, and banquet staff perform important jobs for the hotels and motels that employ them. Generally classified as non-exempt, they are entitled to minimum wage and overtime. Unfortunately, their employers exploit language barriers and manipulate pay practices, denying them their hard-earned compensation.
The problem is so pervasive in the hospitality industry that the U.S. Department of Labor issued an alert describing the various ways hotel and motel operators cheat employees out of wages and overtime, such as:
- Failing to pay minimum wage
- Failing to pay workers overtime at time-and-a-half
- Denying workers overtime pay by averaging their work hours over two or more weeks
- Failing to pay workers for all the hours they worked or allowed to work, including meal breaks, rest periods, and employer-mandated training
- Misclassifying workers as salaried employees that are exempt from overtime, without regard to the job duties they perform
- Failing to maintain proper compensation records
- Unlawfully deducting cash register shortages, uniform costs, and other expenses from workers’ pay
- Improperly pooling tips and failing to pay tipped employees the correct overtime rate
Large chains, franchisees, and locally owned and operated establishments alike are subject to the federal Fair Labor Standards Act and other laws. When those hotels and motels violate the FLSA, that’s wage theft.
Class action lawsuits have been brought against hotel and motel brands across the country, including:
- Days Inn
- Doubletree
- Extended Stay
- Hilton
- Hyatt
- Lowes
- Marriott
- Ritz Carlton
- Starwood Hotels & Resorts
- W Hotels