Five Long Island, New York restaurants that are jointly operated were ordered to pay almost $1 million in overtime and back wages to employees, under federal Department of Labor lawsuits.
Seven company officers have been ordered to pay $966,046 in overtime, plus a penalty of $14,773 to resolve the five lawsuits.
“The department has made an intensive effort to protect low wage workers who may not know their legal rights under the federal labor laws,” said U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao. “In this case, we have secured nearly $1 million for 192 workers who were not being paid all the wages they had earned.”
An investigation by the department’s Wage and Hour Division district office in Westbury, based on an anonymous tip, revealed that low-wage workers at the restaurants were being paid less than the federal minimum wage. In addition, the employees were often required to work long hours, without being paid overtime. The restaurants also failed to keep adequate records of the hours that employees worked.
Sources close to the case speculate that at least some of the payments went to servers who were paid less than the minimum wage, even during times when they earned little or no tips. Servers must be paid the minimum wage if their salary plus tips is less than the federal minimum. In addition, they must be paid time-and-one-half for overtime hours.
The U.S. Department of Labor filed five separate suits in the case, against Ital Pizza Corp. of Merrick, New York, Mister Gold Inc. of Plainview, New York, Millennium Foods Ltd. Of Westbury, New York, Tremezzo LLC of East Meadow New York and Nocera Restaurant Inc. of New Hyde Park New York. Individuals named in the suits include Anthony Branchinelli, Louis Branchinelli, Michael D’Abruzzo, Mauro Gallo, Fortunato Nicotra, Marco Nicotra and Franco Giambanco.
All the officers denied that they had violated any laws, but agreed to the settlement and back pay for employees.
The total payments included $164,810 to 34 employees of Ital Pizza Corp., $243,561 to 50 employees of Mister Gold Inc., $204,812 to 50 employees of Millennium Foods, $199,253 to 44 employees of Nocera Restaurant Inc. and $153,610 to 29 employees of Tremezzo LLC.
If the defendants fail to make any payments, the court will appoint a receiver with power to seize and liquidate the defendants’ assets to satisfy the back wage payment order. The defendants must orally advise employees, in English and Spanish, of their rights under the FLSA, the terms of the judgments and their right to engage in protected activities without fear of retaliation.
These employers, like all employers in the U.S. are obligated to prominently post federal and state minimum wage posters where they can be seen by every employee.
The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA) requires that employees be paid at least the minimum wage. Since July 24, 2007 the federal minimum wage is $5.85 per hour. In addition, the FLSA requires that employees who work more than 40 hours in one week be paid one-and-one half their usual rate for each hour in excess of 40. The law also requires that employers keep accurate payroll records to verify their payment practices.
This is just the most recent effort by the U.S. DOL to force employers to abide by the minimum wage laws.
In late July, the U.S. Department of Labor forced Desert Plastering, Inc., a Las Vegas Nevada firm, to pay nearly $1.2 million in back pay to 1060 employees. The feds found that Desert Plastering had not paid required overtime to lathers, finishers, plasterers and estimators who worked up to 58 hours per week.
In early July, the U.S. Department of Labor forced 107 subcontractors of KBR, Inc. of Virginia to pay some $1.5 million in back wages and benefits for up to 2,600 workers who participated in the Hurricane Katrina recovery project. The construction workers were involved in repairs to the Naval Construction Battalion Center in Gulfport Mississippi or the Naval Air Station/Joint Reserve Base in Belle Chasse, Louisiana.
Earlier this year, under a voluntary agreement to prevent a federal suit, Wal-Mart, Inc. agreed to pay $33 million in unpaid overtime wages to 86,680 employees throughout the nation. An internal audit revealed that the company had incorrectly classified some employees as “salary-exempt” when in fact they were entitled to overtime pay.
