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The U.S. Department of Labor is investigating restaurants and hotels in Bloomington to make sure they’re complying with federal labor and wage laws. It’s part of an initiative aimed at stopping labor violations in Midwest college towns.
The Department of Labor launched its investigation in March and has been meeting with Bloomington hospitality employers to review their payroll records and interview workers about wages.
Patricia Lewis is the district director for the Labor Department’s Wage and Hour Division. She says the goal is to identify and remedy any violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act, such as employees being underpaid.
"The department of labor is concerned about many types of violations that are prevalent in this industry, which include things like employees who are tip employees, minimum wage employees, having to pay for uniforms or having to pay for walk outs when a customer leaves and doesn’t pay, sometimes the waiter has to pay for that," Lewis said.
Lewis says many low-wage workers don’t realize such practices violate federal laws.
The department won’t reveal the results of the Bloomington investigation until it’s complete. A similar investigation conducted by the department in Ann Arbor, Michigan found restaurant workers were owed more than $145,000 in back wages.
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