A settlement reached in Elmont

New York State Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman Wednesday announced a settlement with FCN Corporation, a company that operated 5 Star Car Wash in Elmont, and its manager Christopher Conte, which collectively is known as "5 Star," for underpaying employees, including failing to compensate workers the required minimum wage and overtime pay rates. In the settlement, 5 Star agreed to pay $154,951 in restitution to 16 current or former employees.

According to the agreement, along with paying the money in restitution, 5 Star must maintain records, in writing, of all employee complaints, provide employees with written notice of employee rights, train supervisors on the requirements of the settlement, and post a notice informing all employees of their rights, including wage and hour laws and the right to be free from retaliation.

The conduct of 5 Star was "unacceptable," Schneiderman said.

"It's simple: hardworking New Yorkers must be paid a fair day's wage," he said. "My office will continue to take action against all those who violate the rights of their employees."

Between Jan. 1, 2014 and Feb. 2017, 5 Star paid its employees far below the required minimum wage and overtime rate, sometimes paying as low as $6 an hour to employees who worked more than 75 hours a week. The car wash company failed to pay employees one hour's pay at the basic minimum hourly wage rate for days whenever an employees' workdays exceeded 10 hours. 5 Star didn't keep proper records in accordance with the law.  

During most of the time period covered by the investigation, minimum wage standard was about $9 per hour. The state's minimum wage is currently $10 per hour in Nassau County, to increase on Dec. 31 this year. Overtime laws require employers to pay covered employees one and one half times an employee's regular rate for hours worked beyond 40 hours in a given week.

Wage theft is a persistent and pervasive problem in New York, particularly in the carwash industry, with low-road employers cheating their immigrant workers out of millions of dollars in lawful wages and benefits each year, according to Deb Axt, the co-executive director of Make The Road New York.

"At a time when exploitative employers are feeling increasingly emboldened by Trump's hateful rhetoric, it is imperative that our state is taking a strong stance in defense of immigrant workers," she said. "We commend the Attorney General for fighting to recover wages for the workers at Five Star Carwash and for showing employers that this behavior will not be tolerated in New York." 

Stuart Appelbaum, the president of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, said that the tip credit needs to be abolished, because it is where some businesses take advantage.

"There is an epidemic of wage theft in the car wash industry and this shows exactly why we need strong enforcement to protect workers, but it also shows why we need to put an end to the tip credit - so that businesses like this cannot use this loophole to pay workers sub-minimum wages," he said. "The restitution the A.G. prescribes is a victory for these workers, and ending the tip credit will help all car wash workers."

Anyone who is aware of a violation of workplace rights in New York State is encouraged to file a complaint with the Office of the Attorney General by filling out a complaint form or by calling the Labor Bureau at (212) 416-8700.