The fundamental basis for all types of employment is that the employee is paid for the work he or she provides. This is required by law in California and across the United States. The Fair Labor Standards Act was enacted to ensure that workers are compensated fairly and requires that employees be paid overtime pay of time and a half when they work in excess of 40 hours per week. These are also commonly referred to as wage and hour laws. Unfortunately, some employers will choose to break these laws.
A restaurant and a grocer in another state allegedly failed to pay employees overtime, and they became the center of lawsuits. The lawsuit filed against the restaurant claimed that the owners violated the Fair Labor Standards Act. According to suit, the owners failed to pay the employees for overtime and paid the majority of the employees a flat rate regardless of the amount of hours they worked. The lawsuit also alleged that the business did not keep accurate time and payroll records. The owners of the restaurant were ordered to pay over $112,000 in back wages to employees
The lawsuit filed against the grocer also alleged several violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act. The suit claimed that the owners failed to pay overtime, did not pay workers for breaks that were less than 20 minutes and other record-keeping violations. The grocer agreed to pay $135,657 in back wages and interest.
California and other states have wage and hour laws that require employers to pay workers for the work they provide. Those workers who feel that they have been subjected to wage and hour violations may be able to pursue legal action. A successful lawsuit could result in a reimbursement wages that were lost as a result of these unfair acts.
Source: crainsdetroit.com, “Ann Arbor restaurant, Nino Salvaggio stores ordered to pay $248,000 in back wages“, Tyler Clifford, Feb. 15, 2018