U.S. Department of Labor issued the following announcement on Sept. 30.
After an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD), Superior Seafood & Oyster Bar LLC - doing business as Superior Seafood and Oyster Bar New Orleans - and Superior Restaurant Group LLC have paid $238,300 in back wages and liquidated damages to 222 employees, for violating the overtime requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).
WHD investigators found the employer failed to combine the hours worked each week by employees who worked in more than one position. The employer did not combine the hours worked for employees who worked in more than one occupation to determine whether they worked more than 40 hours in the workweek and paid them straight time rates for hours which should have been paid at time and one half the regular rate. The employer also failed to include incentive bonuses earned by employees when determining their regular rates of pay to calculate overtime. Excluding those amounts resulted in the employer paying overtime at rates lower than those required by law. WHD also cited the employer for recordkeeping violations.
“Other employers in this industry should use the outcome of this case as an opportunity to review their own payroll practices and make sure they comply with the law,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Troy Mouton in New Orleans, Louisiana. “The U.S. Department of Labor is committed to educating employers and improving compliance with federal wage laws to ensure workers receive the wages they have earned and that employers compete on a level playing field.”
Original source can be found here.