Following an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD), three restaurants in Minnesota and one in Iowa will pay back wages of $831,232 to 113 current and former employees. The payments are due to violations of minimum wage, overtime, and recordkeeping laws under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Plaza Garibaldi in Redwood Falls, Minnesota, La Terraza Mexican Grill and Bar in Mankato, Minnesota, Plaza Garibaldi Authentic Mexican Restaurant Inc, in New Ulm, Minnesota, and Las Palmas Mexican Restaurant in Mason City, Iowa are the offenders. According to the WHD, the restaurants: required some servers to “kick back” their hourly wages and work for tips only; paid bussers, food runners, cooks, and dishwashers flat salaries, regardless of the number of hours they worked; failed to pay all workers minimum wage; and failed to pay all workers overtime for workweeks longer than 40 hours. Read more about it here: https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/whd/whd20181128-0.

Harmony Law Firm has represented workers who were not paid proper wages in violation of the FLSA. If this is your story, contact us to see how we can help.