Gaylord Texan Resort and Convention Center Agrees to Pay $200,000 Settlement for Alleged Wage Violations

Gaylord Texan Resort and Convention Center has agreed to pay 429 service employees working at the Gaylord Texan Resort and Convention Center in Grapevine, Texas, $204,329 after U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division filed a lawsuit against the hotel for wage and hour violations, including violations of minimum wage, overtime and record-keeping provisions. Investigations into the practices of the resort’s vendors and staffing agencies, including The H Roslin Staffing Group in Dallas, SMB Services in Dallas, All Team Food Team in Hurst, Xclusive Staffing Inc. in Grapevine and Five Star Laundry-Dallas LLC in Grapevine, disclosed significant violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act, according to the Department of Labor.  The investigations found that five companies which provided services such as housekeeping, food service, landscaping, janitorial maintenance and valet services to the hotel, violated workers’ rights under of the FLSA. Some of the common FLSA violations found included employers paying “straight time” for all hours worked rather than time and one-half employees’ regular rates for hours over 40 in a week; failing to combine hours worked by employees at multiple job sites; improper wage deductions for uniforms, name badges and background checks, resulting in wages falling below the federal minimum wage; improperly classifying workers as exempt from overtime compensation; and failing to maintain accurate records of employees’ work hours and wages, as required under the law. The FLSA requires that covered, nonexempt employees be paid at least the federal minimum wage of $7.25 for all hours worked, plus time and one-half their regular rates, including commissions, bonuses and incentive pay, for hours worked beyond 40 per week. Additionally, employers must maintain accurate time and payroll records. Gaylord Texan is owned and operated by Gaylord Hotels, a division of Gaylord Entertainment Co., which operates four resorts across the country. Upon being notified of the division’s investigative findings, Gaylord Entertainment agreed to promote FLSA compliance among its vendors at all four of its locations by requiring the vendors to sign FLSA compliance agreements, providing them with compliance assistance materials and making available to their employees a toll-free complaint hotline. The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division investigation was conducted under a multiyear enforcement initiative aimed at strengthening labor law compliance in Texas’s hotel and motel industry.