The U.S. Department of Labor is actively seeking hundreds of workers who are owed their share of more than US$3.8 million in unpaid overtime withheld deliberately by a Kilauea, Hawaii, staffing agency and Lihue, Hawaii, cleaning contractor following a federal investigation and litigation.  

The department’s Wage and Hour Division found that Alacrity Employment Services in Kilauea and Hawaii Care and Cleaning Inc. in Lihue deprived 1,133 employees of their rightful overtime wages between March 5, 2021, and Nov. 13, 2024. Investigators also determined the employers frequently falsified pay records to mask their violations.

“Overtime worked should be overtime paid,” said Min Kirk, Wage and Hour Division acting district director in Honolulu. “An employer cannot evade their responsibility for overtime pay by using schemes such as excluding workers from payroll or underreporting their actual work hours.”

On Jan. 14, the department’s Office of the Solicitor obtained a consent judgment in the U.S. District Court for the District of Hawaii requiring Hawaii Care and Cleaning, Alacrity Employment Services, and their respective owners, William Allen and Amy Galtes, to pay $1.9 million in back wages and an equal amount in damages to the affected workers. The judgment also directs Hawaii Care and Cleaning and Alacrity Employment Services to pay $50,000 in civil money penalties given their willful violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act. 

If you or someone you know was employed by these companies between March 5, 2021, and Nov. 13, 2024, contact the division’s Honolulu District Office at (808) 541-1361 to find out if you are owed back wages and damages.

Healthcare-acquired infections (HAIs) and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) are major public health concerns, and the evidence is growing for the potential role of clothing in microbial transmission. For example, a recent study published in PLoS One found healthcare workers who wash their scrubs at home may be unknowingly contributing to the spread of antibiotic-resistant infections in hospitals.

To study whether home washing machines effectively decontaminated healthcare worker uniforms, researchers washed contaminated fabric swatches in six different consumer-grade washing machines in hot water, using rapid and normal cycles.

Researchers found that half of the machines did not disinfect the clothing during a rapid cycle, and one-third unsuccessfully disinfected during the standard cycle.

After each washing, DNA sequencing of biofilm samples from the washing machine’s interior recorded the presence of potentially pathogenic bacteria and antibiotic resistance genes.

The study also discovered that bacteria can develop resistance to domestic detergents, which also increased their resistance to certain antibiotics. In turn, researchers propose that the laundering guidelines given to healthcare workers should be reviewed to guarantee that home washing machines can clean apparel effectively.

For more recent studies on germ transport on clothing, click here to read an article from ISSA’s Dr. Gavin Macgregor-Skinner.