Dive Brief:
- U.S. senators and their staff members may have had no idea that the folks who prepare and serve their meals were being cheated out of wages while they worked, but the Department of Labor's Wage and Hour division has ordered the offending employers to pay $1 million-plus award of back wages to hundreds of those workers.
- Specifically, Restaurant Associates and its subcontractor, Personnel Plus, have to pay 674 workers to the tune of $1,008,302.
- The Wage and Hour Division charged that the two employers improperly classified workers, paying them for lower-paying jobs than they actually performed, and required them to work prior to their scheduled starting times sans compensation. They also failed to pay the workers proper overtime, as well as required health and welfare benefits and other issues.
Dive Insight:
Wage and Hour Division Administrator David Weil noted that workers in the restaurant industry are among the nation's lowest-paid, which means they typically find it difficult to afford life’s basic expenses and pay bills.
This latest Labor Dept. lawsuit isn't the first and won't be the last, but serves as a prime example of how employers should ensure they are following the letter of the law when it comes to paying their workers, especially with an active DOL and EEOC.