§ 22-5. Enforcement of wage theft violations.

(1)

Order Issued. At the conclusion of a hearing and upon a finding of a wage violation, the Hearing Examiner shall issue a written order as follows:

(a)

If the preponderance of the evidence demonstrates a wage theft violation, the Hearing Examiner shall order the employer to pay wage restitution to the affected employee in an amount equal to three times the amount of back wages that the respondent employer is found to have unlawfully failed to pay the complainant employee; this treble amount shall include the back wages in addition to liquidated damages as compensation for the economic losses suffered by reason of the employee not receiving their wage at the time it was due; and

(b)

The County shall order the employer to pay to the Board of County Commissioners an assessment of costs in an amount not to exceed actual administrative processing costs and costs of the hearing.

(c)

If the respondent has previously been found to have engaged in wage theft in the last 5 years, then in addition to the other remedies available under this chapter, the Hearing Examiner may assess additional penalties against the respondent in the amount of 20 percent above the under payment found in the current proceeding, an additional amount of 40 percent above the underpayment amount if it is a third offense, and an additional 60 percent above the underpayment amount if it is a fourth offense. Revenue received from payment of these penalties for multiple offenses imposed hereunder shall be deposited in a separate account and shall be utilized to defray costs of administering the Wage Theft provisions of Chapter 22.

(2)

Failure to Comply with Final Order. If the County finds that any respondent employer has failed to comply with the Hearing Examiner's order within forty-five (45) days after written notice from the County, the County shall issue a further written order on the respondent employer as follows:

(a)

The County may, upon request of the respondent, grant the respondent an additional forty-five (45) days to comply with any portion of the order, unless such an extension has previously been granted; and

(b)

The County shall order the employer, in addition to wage restitution ordered, to pay the prevailing complainant employee an amount equal to the applicable interest rate which accrues on the full amount of treble damages from the date upon which the finding of wage violation was made until the date upon which the amount is paid in full; and

(c)

The County shall order the employer, in addition to assessment of costs ordered, to pay to the Board of County Commissioners an amount equal to the applicable interest rate which accrues on the assessment of costs from the date upon which the Hearing Examiner's order is issued until the date upon which the amount is paid in full.

(d)

A County vendor or contractor (including a lessee or concessionaire of County property or a permittee to conduct private business on County property) which has not paid an amount due under a Final Order issued pursuant to this chapter, in whole or in part, and its officers, directors, principals, owners, and shareholders owning a controlling interest in the vendor or contractor, shall be presumed not to be responsible to receive a County contract award, lease of County property, a concession on County property, or a permit to conduct private business on County property. Additionally, the failure of a County vendor or contractor to satisfy a Final Order issued pursuant to this chapter may be cause for debarment under section 10-38 of this Code.

(e)

All Final Orders and additional orders issued by a Hearing Examiner pursuant to this chapter shall be recordable and enforceable as judgments in court.

(f)

Respondents that fail to comply with and satisfy in full the obligations of a Final Order within 45 days of its issuance or that fail to comply with and satisfy in full the obligations of any subsequent order, shall be liable for the assessment of reasonable attorney's fees and costs incurred to collect any amounts under the Final Order and any subsequent order upon a request for payment of such attorney's fees and costs by a claimant pursuant to this Section.

(3)

Joint and Severable Liability. In any order issued by the Hearing Examiner, the County may specify two or more respondents as jointly and severally liable for any amount payable to the complainant or the County or both; however, the total amount the complainant or the County may receive from jointly and severally liable respondents shall not exceed the total amount for which respondents are jointly and severally liable.

(4)

Cumulative Rights Preserved. Nothing in this article shall be construed to limit, preclude or in any way abrogate the cumulative rights or remedies available to employees at common law or by other statute which were not the subject of a complainant employee's complaint or the County's enforcement actions; such cumulative rights which shall be unaffected by the provisions of this article unless they are made the subject of a complaint or the County's enforcement action, shall include, but shall not be limited to, rights related to the violation of overtime, minimum wage, living wage, prevailing wage, or equal pay laws.

(Ord. No. 10-16, § 1, 2-18-10; Ord. No. 17-14, § 1, 3-7-17; Ord. No. 17-71, § 1, 10-3-17)