FLSA Dispute: Bars Must Pay $51K Back Wages, $31K in Child-Labor Penalties
A federal court has entered a consent order against three Cowbell sports bars operating in Biddeford, Scarborough and Westbrook, Maine, closing out a Department of Labor case built on alleged Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) violations spanning minimum wage, overtime and child labor rules.
Under the order, the establishments must hand over $51,775 in back wages to 47 employees, along with $31,436 in civil money penalties — a costly lesson in what happens when payroll practices fall short of federal wage-and-hour requirements.
"Employers are required by law to pay non-exempt employees for all hours worked."
— Steven McKinney, District Director, Wage and Hour Division, Manchester, NHWhat Investigators Alleged
According to the DOL's Wage and Hour Division, the problems ran deeper than a simple payroll error. Investigators alleged the bars failed to compensate certain workers for every hour on the clock, and went as far as altering timecards to hide the true hours worked. Some employees were also allegedly misclassified as exempt from overtime protections.
Another key failure: employees who worked shifts at more than one of the three locations had their hours tracked separately. Because those hours were never combined, workers who crossed the 40-hour weekly threshold across locations missed out on the time-and-a-half overtime pay they were owed.
The case also carried a child-labor dimension. At one of the locations, two minors allegedly worked beyond the hours permitted under federal child labor provisions — the source of a significant portion of the civil penalties.
"When one employee works at multiple locations, the hours must be combined for the 40-hour overtime threshold."
— Key compliance takeaway for multi-location employersThe Lesson for Multi-Location Employers
For HR and payroll teams overseeing more than one worksite, this case is a clear warning. When a single employee splits their week between locations under common ownership, payroll systems must aggregate all hours worked before calculating overtime eligibility. Treating each site as a silo is one of the most common — and most expensive — FLSA missteps.
Employers should also audit exemption classifications regularly, keep timekeeping records untouched and accurate, and double-check that any workers under 18 are scheduled strictly within permitted hours. Each of these failures on its own can trigger a DOL investigation; combined, they can add up to tens of thousands of dollars in back wages and penalties.
$83K total cost. Three Maine sports bars must pay $51,775 in back wages to 47 employees plus $31,436 in civil money penalties under a federal consent order.
Combine hours across locations. When an employee works at multiple sites under common ownership, all hours must be totaled together for the 40-hour overtime threshold.
Timecard tampering is a red flag. Investigators alleged timecards were altered to conceal hours worked — a practice that dramatically escalates DOL enforcement risk.
Check exemption classifications. Misclassifying non-exempt workers as exempt denies them overtime pay and was among the core violations alleged in this case.
Mind child-labor limits. Two minors at one location allegedly worked beyond permitted hours — a reminder to schedule workers under 18 strictly within federal restrictions.