Clairmont Diner will pay $213K in back wages, damages and penalties after federal Wage and Hour investigation

Employer name: 929 Restaurant Corp., doing business as Clairmont Diner

Investigation site: 929 Yonkers Ave., Yonkers, New York

Investigation findings: An investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division found that the Clairmont Diner violated the minimum wage, overtime and recordkeeping requirements of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act. Investigators found the employer  

• Paid all employees a straight salary without regard to hours worked.  This resulted in minimum wage violations when the salary divided by the actual hours worked resulted in employees earning less than the current federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour.
• Failed to pay overtime to employees, including wait staff, dishwashers and cooks, who worked 43-63 hours per week.
• Maintained incomplete and inaccurate payroll records, failed to record all employees on the payroll and failed to keep records of all hours worked and wages paid.

Resolution:  The restaurant has agreed to pay $101,467 in back wages plus an equal amount in liquidated damages totaling $202,934 to 28 employees. The employer will also install a time clock; put all employees on its payroll records; and record all hours worked by all employees and pay legally required minimum wage and overtime. Clairmont Diner will also pay the Labor Department $10,472 in civil money penalties.

Quote: “These Clairmont Diner employees work long hours and are entitled to all of their hard-earned wages. An employer who short-changes workers also gains an unfair advantage over those employers who obey the law” said Sonia Chasin Rybak, the Wage and Hour Division’s assistant district director in White Plains. “Unfortunately, the minimum wage, overtime pay and record-keeping violations that were found at this restaurant are all too common in the restaurant industry. The Wage and Hour Division will not hesitate to enforce the law – seeking remedies like back wages, liquidated damages and civil money penalties – to ensure that employers comply with the law.”

Information: The FLSA requires that covered, nonexempt workers be paid at least the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour for all hours worked, plus one and one-half times their regular wages for hours worked beyond 40 per week. Employers also must maintain accurate time and payroll records.

For more information about federal wage laws administered by the Wage and Hour Division, call the agency’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Information also is available at http://www.dol.gov/whd/.