“If I’m Google, no problem, but not for a laundromat,” Mr. Lin said. TYS, which competes with two other laundromats in a two-block radius, earns him a monthly net income of over $4,000.

Mr. Lin, 31, came here as a teenager with his family from China. “For most Chinese people here, it’s either restaurants or laundromats,” he said.

Despite her hours being cut, Perla, who came here from Mexico 12 years ago, said her work situation has improved.

“My feet used to be swollen from standing 11 hours a day, six days a week without sitting,” she said, adding that she couldn’t take any breaks then and had to skip meals, which gave her chronic gastritis.

These days, Perla is allowed a 30-minute pause for lunch. She also said that Mr. Lin now provides workers with gloves and masks for the use of bleach and to deal with the lint coming out of dryers. “My throat used to burn at the end of my shift,” she said.

Mr. Lin argued that he has always complied with safety standards. He also denies any accusation of abusive treatment outside of not paying his workers fairly.

Last November, Perla and another co-worker filed a lawsuit against TYS, seeking back pay for unpaid minimum wage and overtime. A settlement was reached this month: Mr. Lin has agreed to pay his two workers $150,000 in total and to keep employing them at least 40 hours a week.