“…investigators determined that the hotel was liable for repayment of back wages because hotel staff had directly supervised those employed 
by the staffing agency, creating what Young referred to as “joint employment relationship”…generally the using company tries to avoid the responsibility of the employers by staying out of the direct supervision of the employees or payment…however, we found there was enough direct supervision by Castillo Real employees on the staffing company’s employees to then create an employment relationship…Based on that relationship the hotel was found liable for the repayment of back wages…”
The U.S. Department of Labor found that two-thirds of the staffing companies that provide employees to north Florida’s hospitality industry investigated as part of a new initiative were not in compliance with federal wage and labor laws.
According to a DOL release, the hotel will pay $17,890 in back wages after it was discovered that employees provided by staffing company Maja LLC regularly were not paid overtime after working more than 40 hours a week providing services such as housekeeping and laundering. Additionally, some weeks employees’ wages fell below the federally required minimum wage.
Michael Young, district director of the DOL’s Wage and Hour Division’s Jacksonville District Office said the practice of using staffing companies to fill positions formerly managed by hotels themselves is becoming more prevalent across the country. The initiative looking into compliance among staffing companies was undertaken in four of the 10 districts in the Southeast.
For more:Â http://news.wjct.org/post/investigation-finds-north-florida-hotels-violated-federal-labor-laws
