The New York State Department of Labor (DOL) has announced that it has recovered over $191,000 in unpaid wages for 93 employees working at the Buffalo-based company, Magellan Technology/Demand Vape. DOL’s division of labor standards found the employees had been shorted pay owed to them under the State’s “spread of hours law” for service workers, according to the announcement on Wednesday, Sept. 28.

Typically, an underpayment occurs when minimum wage workers work more than 10 hours, and there is a break longer than 4 hours between shifts. Employers are required to pay one additional hour per day at minimum wage when an employee’s spread of hours exceeds 10 hours, or the employee works a split shift. Any amount over the hourly minimum wage can be used to offset this requirement.

In the context of the news, DOL commissioner, Roberta Reardon, said, “We are doing everything we can to not only protect workers, but also educate employers and businesses.” She added, “The involvement of NYSDOL brought this issue to the employer’s attention and secured the recovery of the unpaid wages. We will continue to work with employers to ensure all employees are receiving the pay they work hard for and deserve.”

The investigation began after a complaint was made by a competitor, leading to an audit being requested by the DOL Labor Standards division. After an audit, the company was found to be shorting workers on wages from 1/1/2019 through 4/4/2022.

Magellan Technology/Demand Vape was reportedly unaware of the split shift and spread of hours provision in the State’s miscellaneous wage order. Once aware, the company reportedly conducted a self-audit, at the request of the division of labor standards, and paid all eligible employees and formers employees on 8/8/22.

The wage recovery is part of ongoing wage theft recovery efforts at DOL, with department officials saying they are committed to helping workers collect wages owed to them, including unpaid wages, withheld wages, illegal deductions, tip appropriation, and more.

The division of labor standards also investigates and collects unpaid benefits, such as wage supplements, which includes vacation/holiday pay, paid sick leave, expense reimbursement, and more. For more information, including how to file a claim, visit https://on.ny.gov/unpaidwages.