A Florida restaurant owed $19,000 in back pay after overtime and minimum wage violations
A Gulf Breeze restaurant paid $19,008 in earned pay after a U.S. Department of Labor investigation found it didn’t pay employees for all the time they worked.
And that money went to 24 employees of Rio Bravo Mexican Grill, $792 per employee.
“For low-wage earners, every minute spent working equals much-needed income,” Labor said in a release. “When employers fail to account for all the hours employees work, as was the case with a Gulf Breeze restaurant, these workers find it more difficult to provide for themselves and their families.”
Wage and Hour investigators found that Rio Bravo:
▪ Didn’t pay employees who received tips from the start of their shift, but rather when their first customers came. That resulted in a violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act’s minimum wage rules.
▪ Always paid workers twice a month while ignoring whether or not a worker was on the clock more than 40 hours in a given workweek. That violates FLSA’s overtime rules.
▪ Didn’t keep accurate records of employee hours worked.
The Wage and Hour complaint section of the Department of Labor website contains information on how to file a complaint. Miami’s Wage and Hour Division office can be reached at 305-598-6607.
This story was originally published April 8, 2021 at 8:48 AM with the headline "A Florida restaurant owed $19,000 in back pay after overtime and minimum wage violations."
