Crime

Dorchester wholesale bakery cited for over $440,000 in wage and labor violations

Dutch Maid Bakery and five Dorchester temp agencies were cited for 30 violations of state wage and labor laws by the Massachusetts Attorney General's Office.

By Susannah Sudborough

January 26, 2023

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A Dorchester wholesale bakery and five temp agencies that helped staff the bakery have been cited over $440,000 for 30 wage and labor violations by the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office.

Dutch Maid Bakery, which makes baked goods for grocery stores and other retailers, owes dozens of employees restitution for its violations, the AG’s Office said.

These violations include bad payroll record keeping, not offering employees sick time, not paying workers enough for overtime work, and paying workers less than the state’s minimum wage.

The AG’s Office said in a news release Wednesday that its investigation into Dutch Maid Bakery found that the company failed to “maintain true and accurate records of its employees.”

Some of these problems included not listing the number of hours salaried employees worked on their paystubs, not having an earned sick time policy, and not informing employees of its policies as is required by law, the AG’s Office said.

Hub Personnel Services, a Dorchester temp agency that helped staff the bakery, was also cited as a result of the AG’s investigation. The AG’s Office said the agency didn’t keep accurate timesheets and records of how much money employees earned, and that any records that were kept were incomplete and inaccurate.

Additionally, the AG’s Office said, the agency didn’t offer employees sick time, didn’t provide temp workers with work, and gave inaccurate job descriptions for the positions they did hire workers for.

Both companies also didn’t compensate workers properly under state minimum wage and overtime laws, the AG’s Office said.

“Workers deserve to be paid their rightful wage – and when they aren’t, our office will hold their employer accountable,” Attorney General Andrea Campbell said in the release. “As we push for greater economic stability for our residents, tackling the issue of wage theft will remain a priority for this office.”

In total, Dutch Maid Bakery and its president and treasurer, along with Hub Personnel Services and its president, were issued 11 citations.

These citations included failure to pay minimum wage and overtime wages, failure to furnish true and accurate payroll records, failure to keep true and accurate payroll records, failure to furnish suitable pay stubs, failure to provide workers written notice of earned sick time leave, and failure to provide adequate notice of the Temporary Worker Right to Know Law to workers. 

Other Dorchester temp agencies also provided Dutch Maid Bakery with workers, including Dorchester Temp Service, General Employment Service, Amado Enterprises, and AR Services, the AG’s Office said. These companies were issued a total of 19 citations.

These citations include violations of state minimum wage and overtime laws, record-keeping laws, earned sick time laws, and temp worker’s rights laws. The temp agencies also misclassified employees as independent contractors and didn’t pay their workers on time, the AG’s Office said.