2 Philadelphia Restaurants Ordered To Give Workers Over $800,000 In Back Pay
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Two Philadelphia restaurants have violated minimum wage laws and have been ordered to pay their employees over $800,000 in back pay.
Mixto and Tierra Colombiana have been ordered to pay 156 employees to resolve federal wage violations.
Attorney Pilar Castillo of the Department of Labor, says this was a case of violating the Fair Labor Standards Act on a routine basis.
"Employees at both of these restaurants regularly worked overtime, which is defined under the act as anything over 40-hours a week," Castillo said. "But the employees in this case were not paid the time and a half for that overtime."
In addition, she says, workers were docked pay if they broke dishes while on duty, which is also illegal.
Restaurant Jorge Mosquera now has 14 months to make the payments to bartenders, servers, barbacks and other workers who were shorted on their paychecks.