Home Care In Collegeville, PA

A Collegeville restaurant withheld overtime pay from employees, committed child labor violations, and retaliated against staff that complained about overtime pay practices, according to an investigation from the U.S. Department of Labor.

The business, Aston CC LLC, which operates as Vincent’s Pizzeria & Grill at 500 Gravel Pike in Collegeville, has agreed to pay $268,660 in unpaid wages and damages, as the result of a settlement agreement.

“We will hold employers legally accountable when they fail to comply with federal laws that protect workers’ rights to their full wages and ensure young employees work during permitted hours in safe jobs,” said Samantha Thomas, acting regional solicitor of labor for the Labor Department.

Between Jan. 11, 2020, and Jan. 6, 2023, Vincent’s Pizzeria & Grill allegedly violated federal law by failing to pay its employees overtime. Kitchen workers were not paid overtime, while a cashier and a delivery driver received overtime pay in cash, but not the required amount in total, according to the investigation. The restaurant also failed to record the cash payments and hours worked by employees who were paid in cash, either partially or fully.

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A total of 15 employees are owed back wages in amounts ranging from $111.94 to $19,776, according to a representative for the Labor Department.

Three employees who complained about the overtime pay practices were fired, and the restaurant will pay $9,000 in damages to that group of employees for the unlawful retaliation.

The investigation also revealed that three children at the restaurant were employed in tasks that are defined as hazardous for their age by the Fair Labor Standards Act. Employees aged 15 and 17 used a meat slicer and a vertical dough mixer. One child under the age of 16 also worked more than 8 hours when school was not in session.

“Learning new skills in the workforce is an important part of growing up, but we must protect children and make sure their first jobs are safe and do not interfere with their education or well-being,” said James Cain, wage and hour division district director at the U.S. Department of Labor.

» READ MORE: Retail and fast-food workers: These are your rights under Philadelphia’s Fair Workweek law

Pennsylvania has seen a surge in child labor law violation investigations recently. Since January, the state’s Department of Labor and Industry has opened 403 investigations, compared to 107 cases during the same time last year.

Last month, a Norristown pizzeria that failed to pay workers overtime was also found to be in violation of child labor laws by employing children too young to be food delivery drivers.

In addition to the wages and damages owed to employees, Vincent’s Pizzeria & Grill in Collegeville has to pay a $9,323 fine for the child labor violations and a $6,657 fine for overtime pay violations.

The settlement agreement was filed on Oct. 19 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, and the company has 30 days from when it was entered to issue payment, according to court documents.

A representative for Vincent’s Pizzeria & Grill did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday.

US Department of Labor also found child labor violations at Vincent’s Pizzeria & Grill

COLLEGEVILLE, PA – A Collegeville restaurant and its owners must pay $268,660 in back wages, liquidated damages and punitive damages to satisfy a consent judgment obtained by the U.S. Department of Labor after an investigation into the employers’ illegal pay practices.

The action follows an investigation by the department’s Wage and Hour Division that found that Aston CC LLC, operating as Vincent’s Pizzeria & Grill, and owners George El Roueiheb and Vicken Mouchlin, willfully violated federal law by failing to pay kitchen workers time and one-half for hours over 40 in a workweek. The division also determined the employers paid a cashier and delivery drivers for overtime hours separately in cash but failed to pay the required overtime rate. The employers also did not maintain time and pay records for employees they paid fully or partially in cash.

Investigators also found that the restaurant violated the Fair Labor Standards Act’s anti-retaliation provision by firing three employees who complained to the employers about their overtime pay practices. The consent judgment requires them to pay $9,000 in punitive damages to be distributed to the affected employees for the unlawful retaliation.

During its investigation, the division also discovered the restaurant and its owners employed three children to work in occupations defined as hazardous for young workers. Specifically, the employers tasked a 17-year-old and a 15-year-old to operate a meat slicer, and two 17-year-olds to operate a vertical dough mixer. In addition, the employers allowed one child under 16 to work more than 8 hours when school was not in session, another FLSA violation. Investigation also concluded the employers failed to maintain records of the dates of birth of employees under age 19 and daily and weekly hours worked for three children.

“The Fair Labor Standards Act does not permit employers to deny overtime pay or jeopardize the safety of young workers,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director James Cain in Philadelphia. “Food service industry employers must comply with federal wage and child labor laws to avoid violations like the ones found in this case. Learning new skills in the workforce is an important part of growing up, but we must protect children and make sure their first jobs are safe and do not interfere with their education or well-being.”

In addition to the back wages and damages, the judgment entered by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania requires Vincent’s Pizzeria & Grill, El Roueiheb and Mouchlin to pay $9,323 for the child labor violations and $6,657 in civil money penalties for the willful overtime violations. The judgment also requires the employers to comply with the FLSA’s anti-retaliation, child labor, overtime and minimum wage provisions in the future.

“We will hold employers legally accountable when they fail to comply with federal laws that protect workers’ rights to their full wages and ensure young employees work during permitted hours in safe jobs,” said Acting Regional Solicitor of Labor Samantha Thomas in Philadelphia.

The YouthRules! initiative promotes positive and safe work experiences for teens by providing information about protections for young workers to youth, parents, employers and educators. Through this initiative, the U.S. Department of Labor and its partners promote developmental work experiences that help prepare young workers to enter the workforce. The Wage and Hour Division has also published Seven Child Labor Best Practices for Employers to help employers comply with the law.

Learn more about the Wage and Hour Division, including a search tool to use if you think you may be owed back wages collected by the division. Employers and workers can call the division confidentially with questions, regardless of where they are from. The department can speak with callers in more than 200 languages through the agency’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Download the agency’s new Timesheet App for iOS and Android devices – free and now available in Spanish – to track hours and pay.

This news release is also available in Spanish.

ABC’s newest Bachelor is Joey Graziadei — runner up on Season 20 of The Bachelorette, a tennis instructor, and a Montgomery County native.

Graziadei, who grew up in Collegeville and played Division II tennis at West Chester University, was a fan favorite on The Bachelorette season that wrapped Monday. Charity Lawson ultimately gave her final rose to Dotun Olubeko, a Brooklyn man whom Lawson said she had a “deeper” connection with.

Graziadei’s good fortune was announced moments after his breakup aired.

“I want love bad,” Graziadei, 28, said tearfully during the finale. “This thing has just shown me how badly I want to be with someone else and get an opportunity to share life with them … I just would ask the universe, ‘When, when is it going to happen for me?’”

Graziadei will helm the 28th season of the dating franchise (and begin his quest for love) sometime in 2024.

What does Graziadei say he’s looking for in a partner? Nothing specific.

“I just want someone to do life with,” he told Bachelor host Jesse Palmer during the After the Final Rose special.

Graziadei has lived on and off in Hawaii since graduating from West Chester in 2017. In Hawaii, he teaches tennis at a luxury resort and residential community called Kukui’ula, according to his LinkedIn.

Graziadei is — unfortunately — a Green Bay Packers fan. His other noted interests are country music, going on hikes, and being with his family, which is the standard formula for building a Bachelor. ABC declined to make Graziadei available for an interview.

Bachelor Nation got a brief taste of Montgomery County on this season of The Bachelorette, when Graziadei brought Lawson to play tennis in Collegeville during his hometown date. Things got derailed, though when Graziadei’s uncle crashed the doubles session to say he believes his nephew is putting on a persona to please her, which caused Lawson to eventually leave Pennsylvania in tears.

“We saw how much of a lover boy Joey is and how much he wants his person,” Lawson told People magazine about her ex becoming the Bachelor. “I do believe that he is going to have no problem finding that.”

ABC has announced the 32 women who will date “The Bachelor,” Joey Graziadei, who is from Collegeville, Pa.

“The Bachelor” season 28 will debut at 8 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 22, 2024, on ABC.

Graziadei, 28, “stole America’s hearts on season 20 of ‘The Bachelorette’ with his loyalty, thoughtfulness and compassion for others.

“Before his emotional exit, audiences saw Joey open up about his family values and how those closest to him have influenced his desire to find lasting love. As the Bachelor, Joey is looking for a life partner who is outgoing, caring and shares his love for adventure and exploring the outdoors. He loves hiking, surfing, and ending his days watching the sunset, but knows he has much more love to give and the only thing missing is someone with whom to share his life,” ABC said.

Graziadei was the runner-up on Charity Lawson’s season of “The Bachelorette” this past fall.

The 32 women include three from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - two are sisters - Allison and Lauren.

They are:

Graziadei is a 28-year-old teaching tennis pro from Collegeville, Pennsylvania, who stole America’s hearts on season 20 of “The Bachelorette” with his loyalty, thoughtfulness and compassion for others. Before his emotional exit, audiences saw Joey open up about his family values and how those closest to him have influenced his desire to find lasting love.

“As the Bachelor, Joey is looking for a life partner who is outgoing, caring and shares his love for adventure and exploring the outdoors. He loves hiking, surfing, and ending his days watching the sunset, but knows he has much more love to give and the only thing missing is someone with whom to share his life,” ABC said.

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LOWER PROVIDENCE, PA — American Red Cross officials are asking Collegeville residents to roll up their sleeves and give blood or platelets to address a nationwide blood shortage exacerbated by severe winter weather that forced hundreds of blood drive cancellations across the country.

Since early January, about 265 blood drives across 27 states were canceled due to weather, leaving more than 8,000 blood and platelet donations to go uncollected and potentially leaving hospitals in short supply of blood, the Red Cross said in an emergency appeal this week.

Blood was already in short supply before millions of people from the Pacific Northwest to the East Coast and the Deep South were placed under some kind of weather alert, including those for blizzards and life-threatening cold air. More bad weather predicted this week could cause even more cancellations. To help, local residents are encouraged to give blood. Some of the places to do that are:

For appointment slots, see the Red Cross page online here.

All blood types are needed, according to the Red Cross, which says it needs to collect 12,500 units of blood and nearly 3,000 platelet donations a day to ensure 2,500 hospitals and transfusion centers nationwide have adequate supplies,

Find out what's happening in Lower Providencewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The emergency blood shortage comes as the nation faces the lowest number of people giving blood in 20 years, the Red Cross says. Teens and young adults, especially, are encouraged to become regular donors.

While the number of blood donations has decreased by 40 percent during that time, of big concern is a decline in the number of young people who are giving blood. A federal National Blood Collection and Utilization Survey showed the number of teens and young adults giving blood has steadily fallen since 2013. Donations from 16- to 18-year-olds dropped by 60 percent from 2019 to 2021, and donations from 19- to 24-year-olds went down by almost a third, according to that report.

Experts said the decline is partly, but not entirely, due to the pandemic. Turning that around is paramount to ensuring the nation has a reliable blood supply.

“If that trend continues, we’re going to be in a very difficult situation,” said Dr. Claudia Cohn, chief medical officer for the Association for the Advancement of Blood & Biotherapies, told NBC News. “Blood centers often depend upon high schools for their blood drives.”

Cohn said Baby Boomers are the most reliable blood donors and, “unfortunately, younger people are not getting out and replacing those numbers as we need them.”

More information is available by visiting RedCrossBlood.org, downloading the Red Cross Blood Donor App, or calling 1-800-Red Cross.