North Jersey commercial laundromat pays $209K over labor violations affecting 220 workers

A commercial laundromat in Paterson will pay over $209,000 in back wages, damages, penalties and fees after a series of major labor violations, the state Labor Department announced Thursday.

Brite Services, which does business with several hotels in New York and New Jersey and operates under the trade name Star Laundry, allegedly failed to pay minimum wage and overtime, kept incomplete records and misclassified workers as exempt from overtime.

A total of 220 employees were affected, including drivers, helpers, washers and office staff.

Star Laundry could not be immediately reached by comment via email on Friday morning.

The $209,175.20 judgment against Brite includes a previous judgment of $6,626, as well as $85,000 from misclassifying employees as exempt from overtime, labor officials said.

“Our investigations continue to show that misclassification of laundromat workers is widespread,” said Labor Commissioner Robert Asaro-Angelo.

As part of the agreement between state labor officials and Brite, the laundromat operator agreed to pay the back wages, damages, penalties and fees.

Brite agreed to advise employees who they said were overtime-exempt about their status, and will agree to submit time and payroll records to an “independent auditor,” who will relay those documents to the state Labor Department.

Daniel Munoz covers business, consumer affairs, labor and the economy for NorthJersey.com and The Record.

Email: munozd@northjersey.com; Twitter:@danielmunoz100 and Facebook

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: NJ commercial laundromat to pay $209K over labor violations