El Potro Mexican Restaurant in Atlanta to pay 10 employees more than $110K in back wages after US Labor Department investigation

Employer name: El Potro Inc.

Investigation site: 3396 Buford Highway NE, Atlanta, Georgia 30329

Investigation findings: Investigators from the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division, Atlanta District Office, found that El Potro Inc. violated the minimum wage and overtime provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act. Specifically, the employer paid its servers, bussers and kitchen staff a flat bi-weekly salary without regard to the number of hours worked. For bussers and servers, this minimal salary was not sufficient to meet the current federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour or even the minimum cash wage for tipped employees of $2.13 per hour when divided by the number of hours they worked. The employer also failed to pay overtime pay for hours worked beyond 40 in a work week.

Resolution: El Potro Mexican Restaurant has agreed to future compliance with the FLSA and to pay back wages totaling $110,505 to 10 employees.

Quote: "Restaurant workers are typically among the most at-risk that we see. Failure to pay these workers their hard-earned minimum wage and overtime poses a serious problem to those who, in many cases, are already struggling to get by. It also undercuts those employers who obey the law and pay their workers properly," said Frank McGriggs, the Wage and Hour Division's deputy regional administrator in Atlanta. "The Wage and Hour Division remains committed to combating the rampant violations we find in the restaurant industry."

Information: An employer of a tipped employee is required to pay no less than $2.13 an hour in direct wages, provided that amount, plus the tips received, equals at least the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. If an employee's tips, combined with the employer's direct wages, do not equal at least the minimum wage, the employer must make up the difference.

The FLSA requires that covered, nonexempt employees be paid at least the federal minimum wage of $7.25 for all hours worked, plus time and one-half their regular rates of pay for hours worked beyond 40 per week. Simply paying employees a salary does not exempt them from minimum wage and overtime protections. Employers also are required to maintain accurate time and payroll records and to comply with the hours. For more information about the FLSA and wage laws or to file a complaint, call the Wage and Hour Division's toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243); the Atlanta District Office at 678-237-0521 or visit http://www.dol.gov/whd.