Tag Archives: Unpaid Wages

Hospitality Industry Employment Risks: California Restaurant Found Liable For Over $480,000 In Penalties, Unpaid Wages By EDD; Failed To Pay Minimum Wage, “Split-Shift” Premium

“…(the restaurant) owners are individually and jointly responsible for $108,200 in civil penalties, as well as $373,613 owed to their workers in unpaid minimum wages, overtime pay, rest period, and split-shift premiums…Workers were not paid the state-mandated minimum wage for California Employment Development Departmenthours worked or the one-and-a-half regular rate of pay for overtime hours. Rather, the owners paid in cash: $45 per day for servers and between $75 and $120 for kitchen staff…”

“…The pay rate was further inadequate because it did not reflect the “split-shift” premium, as is required when employees work two or more shifts in a workday with an unpaid break of more than an hour. Workers were not allowed to leave the premises before 2:30 each afternoon when business was closed to the public, and then reported back at 4:30 p.m. for several more hours of work. The investigation also revealed that employers had not kept time records prior to September 1, 2013, or provided staff with itemized wage statements….”

California Labor Commissioner Julie A. Su issued to the owners of a restaurant in Alameda citations totaling $481,813 The citations consisted of civil penalties and wages owed to 13 employees for violation of minimum wage, overtime, and rest period laws. The Labor Commissioner’s joint inspection with the Employment Development Department (EDD) was based on complaints filed in August. The investigation revealed that the cooks, dishwashers, kitchen helpers, and servers employed by Toomie’s Thai Cuisine routinely worked at least 10.5 hours each day, up to 7 days a week.

“The Labor Commissioner is charged with ensuring that employees are paid for all wages they are owed,” affirmed Christine Baker, director of the Department of Industrial Relations (DIR). The Labor Commissioner’s Office, also known as the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE), is a division within the DIR.

Labor Commissioner Su stated, “We want to create a culture of compliance where employers profit by playing by the rules and employers who have concluded that it is cheaper to break the law, that the chances of getting caught are slim, and the costs even if you do get caught are minimal know that those days are over.”

Additional information on labor laws and work-related topics are available on the DIR website at http://www.dir.ca.gov.

For more: http://hr.blr.com/HR-news/Compensation/Wage-and-Hour-Investigations/CA-labor-commissioner-cites-restaurant-481813-for

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Filed under Employment Practices Liability, Labor Issues, Liability, Management And Ownership, Risk Management

Hospitality Industry Legal Risks: Missouri Restaurant Owes Six “Undocumented Alien Workers” $450,000 In Back Pay And Penalties; Court Rules “Federal Labor Law Trumps Federal Immigration Law”

“…The court held that “aliens, authorized to work or not, may recover unpaid and underpaid wages” under rights granted by the Fair Labor Hospitality Industry Wage Violation LawsuitsStandards Act…The appellate judges said that “numerous district courts, including the one in this case, and the secretary of labor all agree: Employers who unlawfully hire unauthorized aliens must otherwise comply with federal employment laws…”

In a case that pit U.S. labor law against immigration law, a panel of federal appellate judges has ruled that six undocumented workers are owed about $450,000 in back pay and penalties for uncompensated work at a Kansas City restaurant — the popular Jerusalem Cafe in Westport. The 8th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals said this week that federal labor law trumped federal immigration law in this instance.

The court ruled that a former owner and former manager of Jerusalem Cafe could not argue that the workers were in the United States illegally and therefore lacked standing to sue for unpaid wages.

That argument, the appellate panel said, is akin to saying that Al Capone couldn’t have been prosecuted for tax evasion because his earnings were illegally made. (The infamous mobster was jailed on such charges.)

The lawsuit said five of the six workers had each worked 77 hours a week at the restaurant. It said the workers were known to lack official work authorizations and were paid in cash on a weekly basis.

The case attracted national attention, prompting the U.S. secretary of labor to file a brief on behalf of six workers who were employed at the restaurant in the period spanning 2007 to 2010.

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2013/08/01/4383369/court-says-undocumented-workers.html#storylink=cpy

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Filed under Employment Practices Liability, Labor Issues, Liability, Management And Ownership, Risk Management

Hospitality Industry Legal Risks: Workers File Class-Action Lawsuit Against Los Angeles Hotel For "Millions Of Dollars In Unpaid Wages"

“…(the suit) alleges that management has routinely required them to work through required lunch breaks and rest periods and after clocking out…Housekeepers also claim hotel management refused to reimburse them after requiring them to buy cleaning supplies such as sponges and gloves to clean guest bathrooms…”

The suit also alleges that a majority of Holiday Inn LAX employees are earning less than $11.97 per hour, the minimum living wage for hotel workers in the LAX corridor.

Workers at the Holiday Inn Los Angeles International Airport filed a class action lawsuit on Thursday demanding millions of dollars in alleged unpaid wages. A non-union group of bartenders, housekeepers, cooks and other workers filed the suit with support from L.A. hospitality labor union Unite Here Local 11.

Adrian Valencia, general manager at Holiday Inn LAX, said the hotel was surprised by the lawsuit.

“We had never been contacted by the union until Monday, when they stormed in yelling and screaming into the administration offices,” he said. “We pay the annual living wage increase as of July 1 each year and we have some of the best scores for a Holiday in as far as cleaning. We use proper procedures here at the hotel.”

Randy Renick, the attorney representing the workers, said the goal of the suit is to address long-standing labor grievances.

For more: http://www.labusinessjournal.com/news/2012/oct/04/lax-hotel-employees-file-suit-unpaid-wages/

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Filed under Labor Issues, Liability, Management And Ownership