Employers will pay $114,737 in penalties and interest for wage and record-keeping violations
The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a series of consent judgments in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York ordering seven Long Island restaurants to pay a total of $1,693,507.22 to 363 low-wage workers, chiefly servers and kitchen employees. The restaurants will also pay $114,737.96 in civil money penalties and interest to the department for willful violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act.
“These wage recoveries, damages and fines serve as notice that the underpayment of employees is unacceptable. We will use all available tools to identify and root out such labor violations and make whole the affected workers,” said Irv Miljoner, director of the division’s Long Island office. “The violations found during these investigations are, unfortunately, all too common in this industry. We plan to continue our enforcement effort in the Asian restaurant sector and other types of restaurants where underpayment cheats both employers and workers who follow the law.”
Investigations by the Long Island District Office of the department’s Wage and Hour Division found widespread violations by the restaurants of the FLSA’s minimum wage, overtime and record-keeping requirements. Specifically, the employers engaged in unlawful activities, such as paying below the federal minimum wage; paying cash off-the-books; not paying overtime; illegal tip pools; failing to pay wages to certain employees; and not keeping records of hours worked and wages paid to employees.
The restaurants are Good Taste Buffet, Commack; Kumo Sushi & Steakhouse, Stony Brook; Crystal Garden, Ronkonkoma; Nishiki, Selden; Hotoke, Smithtown; Crystal Garden Buffet, Riverhead; and Kashi Sushi & Steakhouse, Rockville Centre. A chart listing each restaurant and its back wages, liquidated damages and civil money penalties follows this news release.
The investigations were conducted under the Wage and Hour Division’s multiyear enforcement initiative, focused on strengthening labor compliance in Long Island’s restaurant industry. In addition to identifying wage violations and recovering money for underpaid workers, the initiative’s goal is to change industry behavior permanently to ensure proper compensation for all workers and a level playing field for all employers. In fiscal year 2013, initiative cases conducted by the division’s Long Island office resulted in $6.4 million in back wages for more than 1,300 workers and reflected 71 consent judgments.
The cases were litigated by the department’s Regional Office of the Solicitor in New York City.
Source: DOL
This information is intended to be
educational and should not be considered legal advice on any specific matter.
