$257,000 vowed to workers shortchanged by staffing agencies

Labor Dept. seeks to distribute unpaid OT to 238 workers

The U.S. Department of Labor is seeking to distribute money owed to workers employed by two staffing agencies in Lowell and Tyngsboro that were each found last year by a federal court in Boston to have willfully neglected to pay full overtime wages.

Empone Inc., of 660 Middlesex St., Lowell, and Talenique Inc., of 7 Pondview Place, Tyngsboro, were ordered to pay a total of $256,992 in back wages and damages to 238 current and former employees who were placed in jobs in Massachusetts, Maine and New Hampshire. The companies were also ordered to pay $463,407 in civil money penalties to the Department of Labor. According to the initial court filing, Empone is owned by Vanchan Tok and Talenique is owned by Natalie Sokhom, aka Jenny Tok, both of whom were listed as defendants along with their respective companies.

The Department of Labor obtained the judgment last year following an investigation into the payment practices of both agencies under the Fair Labor Standards Act, and now the department’s Wage and Hour Division is seeking to locate and distribute the money to workers who are owed wages.

“These staffing agencies failed to pay their workers time and a half for hours worked over 40 per week. Instead, Empone and Talenique denied the workers the full wages they should have received,” Wage and Hour Division District Director Carlos Matos said in a statement.

In the court filing last May, the staffing agencies are accused of willfully failing to pay proper overtime wages from March 11, 2018 to at least March 6, 2021, and did not keep proper employee payment records during that time.

Empone and Talenique provided temporary employees to companies like Greenhead Lobster Products

LLC in Stonington, Maine; Maine Coast Shellfish LLC in York, Maine; Bombay Duck Company Ltd. in Acton; and Alene Candles LLC in Milford, New Hampshire.

The Wage and Hour Division found that both agencies failed to pay their employees the standard timeand-a-half overtime pay, and instead only paid them their regular rate hours even beyond 40 hours in a week.

Matos said the companies who contracted the workers may also be liable.

“Temporary workers can be vulnerable to exploitation and underpayment, but the companies who contract for temporary workers can have responsibilities as well,” noted Matos. “They may also be liable as joint employers if the temporary employees are not paid properly. The Wage and Hour Division encourages joint employers, including those who use temporary staffing agencies, to verify that all employees are being paid properly under the Fair

Labor Standards Act.”

“Joint employers, including staffing agencies and host companies in some circumstances, can both be responsible for complying with the Fair Labor Standards Act, including ensuring that employees receive all the compensation they earn,” Regional Solicitor of Labor Maia Fisher said in a statement. “This case sends a clear message that the U.S. Department of Labor will not tolerate employers that shortchange workers of their hard-earned wages and that such actions can have costly consequences for employers who disregard the law.”

Many of the impacted workers are believed to speak Khmer, and the Cambodian Mutual Assistance Association in Lowell is working with the Wage and Hour Division to locate those employees to get them their back wages and damages. Workers can contact the CMAA at 978-454-6200 or the Wage and Hour Division’s Boston District Office at 617-624-6700.