Investigators from the division’s Manchester Area Office found that the defendants paid employees in cash for hours worked above 40 in a workweek. The defendants would pay them at their regular hourly rate of pay rather than one and one-half times that rate, as required by law. For some restaurant employees, as much as half their weekly wages were paid off-the-books. The defendants did not maintain records of the payments.
“An employer’s failure to pay required overtime gives an unfair competitive advantage, violates the rights of its employees and will not be tolerated,” said Daniel Cronin, the division’s assistant district director for Northern New England. “As demonstrated by this judgment, the department is committed to using all enforcement tools at its disposal to bring violators into compliance with the law and to return hard-earned wages back into the pockets of our nation’s workers.”
In addition to the payment of back wages and damages, the judgment restrains the defendants from future FLSA violations and requires them to maintain adequate and accurate records of employees’ work hours and wages. The case was litigated for the division by trial attorneys Susan Salzberg and Nathan Henderson of the department’s Regional Office of the Solicitor in Boston.
The FLSA requires that covered employees be paid at least the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour, as well as time and one-half their regular rate for every hour they work beyond 40 per week. The law also requires employers to maintain accurate records of employees’ wages, hours and other conditions of employment, and prohibits employers from retaliating against employees who exercise their rights under the law. The FLSA provides that employers who violate the law are, as a general rule, liable to employees for back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages. Liquidated damages are paid directly to the affected employees.
Source: DOL
This information is intended to be
educational and should not be considered legal advice on any specific matter.
