Hairdresser Chain Closed by Pandemic Owes Back FLSA Wages

Almost cut my hair
Happened just the other day
It's gettin' kind of long
I could've said it was in my way

But I didn't and I wonder why
I feel like letting my freak flag fly
And I feel like I owe it, to someone, yeah

Must be because I had the flu this Christmas
And I'm not feeling up to par
And increases my paranoia
Like looking in my mirror and seeing a police car

— Almost Cut My Hair; Crosby, Stills & Nash

Even in the era of a pandemic, or especially in the era of a pandemic, the wage and hour machine grinds onward.

After the investigation by the DOL’s Wage and Hour Division (“WHD”) , the Bankruptcy Court of Maryland has demanded a hair salon chain, Creative Hairdressers, Inc., to pay $1,149,965 in back wages for more than 7,500 of their employees. The court ordered this after the WHD investigators found that Creative Hairdressers had closed all of the salons located in 15 different states, including Washington DC, on March 21, 2020 due to the coronavirus but did not pay their workers any final paychecks. This violated the minimum wage and overtime provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”).

After this, Creative Hairdressers, Inc. filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy and was purchased by another company. After declaring bankruptcy, DOL secured back wages for the employees that worked in Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia, DC, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.

Cheryl Stanton, the Wage and Hour Administrator, stated, “While the employer’s violations were not found to be willful, its employees are among the thousands of personal service workers in America whose livelihoods have been dramatically affected by the coronavirus pandemic… Like many workers, these employees depend on their paychecks to meet their basic living expenses. Even in these unprecedented times, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division is committed to ensuring that workers receive their hard-earned wages.”

The court ordered Creative Hairdressers to pay about a total of $3,100,000 to satisfy the minimum wages, 401(k), bonus program payments and applicable employment-related taxes.