A local restaurant chain will pay more than $11 million dollars in back wages after a Department of Labor investigation.
The department says 40 Plaza Azteca restaurants in more than seven states violated overtime and minimum wage provisions.
News
$11.4M restored to Plaza Azteca employees by Department of Labor for unpaid work
The chain agreed to pay a consent judgment, entered by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia in Norfolk, after months of litigation and just before a jury trial was slated to begin. The defendants included a long list of Plaza Azteca locations, including the Elizabeth City, Granby St., Hampton, Glen Allen, Warwick, Yorktown, Denbigh and Norfolk Outlet locations.
The restaurant chain will have to pay $11.4 million in back wages to more than 1,000 of its employees, the department says.
The department learned of the following details while investigating, according to the consent judgment and order: The restaurants paid back-of-the-house employees set amounts. In doing so, they failed to pay some employees who worked up to 40 hours in a week the required minimum wage and didn't pay some employees time-and-a-half hours for hours over 40 in a workweek. They also did not keep accurate records of employees' work hours and wages, which is a requirement.
“Our investigators found Plaza Azteca knew of its legal obligations to pay workers minimum wage and overtime and keep accurate payroll records and yet, willfully disregarded federal law,” said Wage and Hour Administrator Jessica Looman. “The employers failed to pay full wages to more than 1,000 employees. The court’s action in this case is an important step in our efforts to make a meaningful difference in the lives of these workers by recovering their hard-earned wages.”
The consent judgment also bans the employers from violating the FLSA (Fair Labor Standards Act) in the future. Now, they'll need a qualified independent consultant to ensure their payroll and recordkeeping practices are FLSA-compliant.
The department says former employees can contact them for details on the settlement by calling 215-861-5180.
For more details on the investigation, click here.
