U.S. Department of Labor Investigation Results in South Carolina Restaurant Paying Back Wages After Violating Federal Overtime Wage Requirements

NORTH MYRTLE BEACH, SC – After an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division (WHD), Benito's Brick Oven Pizza & Pasta – a North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina-based restaurant – has paid $54,355 in back wages and liquidated damages to 12 employees for violating overtime requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

WHD investigators found that the owner of Benito's Brick Oven Pizza & Pasta, Paul Himmelsbach, had set up a separate company named Benito's Pizza and Meatball Express LLC to handle deliveries for the restaurant. Both businesses operated out of the same location, shared employees, and had common ownership, making them a single enterprise. The employer violated the FLSA when it failed to combine the hours for employees who worked for both legal entities in the same work week when determining when overtime pay was due. 

"Employers need to familiarize themselves with the rules for calculating required overtime pay for all of the hours their employees work," said Wage and Hour Division District Director Jamie Benefiel, in Columbia, South Carolina. "A business with multiple locations must count all of an employee's weekly hours across the enterprise to determine whether overtime wages are due. We encourage employers to contact us with any questions they may have so that we may help them understand their obligations and to comply with the law."

For more information about the FLSA and other laws enforced by the Wage and Hour Division, contact the toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Employers who discover overtime or minimum wage violations may self-report and resolve those violations without litigation through the PAID program. Employers can find additional compliance assistance information on the Wage and Hour Division website.