A Tampa restaurant shorted pay of workers, some making only minimum wage, by $150,000
A Tampa sushi restaurant on Dale Mabry Highway has paid $150,749 in back pay and damages after chopping up the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), the U.S. Department of Labor announced.
That money went to 12 kitchen workers and a manager of Matoi Sushi, an average of $11,596.07 per employee.
Wage and Hour Division investigators found:
▪ Matoi Sushi paid the employees involved flat salaries no matter how many hours they worked. When workers went over 40 hours, this became an overtime pay FLSA violation.
▪ Sometimes, workers paid a salary worked enough hours that their pay came out to as little as $6 an hour, less than the FLSA minimum wage requirement of $7.25 an hour.
▪ A kitchen manager made $230 a week ($11,960 per year). Salaried managers exempt from FLSA overtime rules have to make at least $684 per week ($35,568 per year).
“Employers may elect to pay workers on any schedule they choose — weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, or any other timeframe,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Nicolas Ratmiroff. “They must, however, still track hours weekly to determine when overtime is due. They must also understand that paying workers a fixed salary does not excuse them automatically from paying overtime.
“We encourage anyone with questions to call us, confidentially, to speak with a trained wage and hour professional.”
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 June 8, 2021 at 8:31 AM with the headline "A Tampa restaurant shorted pay of workers, some making only minimum wage, by $150,000."
