U.S. Department of Labor Investigation Leads Louisiana Restaurant To Pay $238,300 in Back Wages and Damages to 222 Employees

NEW ORLEANS, LA – After an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD), Superior Seafood & Oyster Bar LLC - doing business as Superior Seafood and Oyster Bar New Orleans - and Superior Restaurant Group LLC have paid $238,300 in back wages and liquidated damages to 222 employees, for violating the overtime requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

WHD investigators found the employer failed to combine the hours worked each week by employees who worked in more than one position. The employer did not combine the hours worked for employees who worked in more than one occupation to determine whether they worked more than 40 hours in the workweek and paid them straight time rates for hours which should have been paid at time and one half the regular rate. The employer also failed to include incentive bonuses earned by employees when determining their regular rates of pay to calculate overtime. Excluding those amounts resulted in the employer paying overtime at rates lower than those required by law. WHD also cited the employer for recordkeeping violations.

“Other employers in this industry should use the outcome of this case as an opportunity to review their own payroll practices and make sure they comply with the law,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Troy Mouton in New Orleans, Louisiana. “The U.S. Department of Labor is committed to educating employers and improving compliance with federal wage laws to ensure workers receive the wages they have earned and that employers compete on a level playing field.”

The Department offers numerous resources to ensure employers have the tools they need to understand their responsibilities and to comply with federal law, such as online videos, electronic toolkits, and in-person visits to local WHD staff.

Employers who discover overtime or minimum wage violations may self-report and resolve those violations without litigation through the PAID program. For more information about the FLSA and other laws enforced by the Division, contact the toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Information is also available at www.dol.gov/whd including a search tool for workers who may be owed back wages collected by WHD.

WHD’s mission is to promote and achieve compliance with labor standards to protect and enhance the welfare of the nation’s workforce. WHD enforces federal minimum wage, overtime pay, recordkeeping, and child labor requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act. WHD also enforces the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act, the Employee Polygraph Protection Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act, wage garnishment provisions of the Consumer Credit Protection Act, and a number of employment standards and worker protections as provided in several immigration related statutes. Additionally, WHD administers and enforces the prevailing wage requirements of the Davis-Bacon Act, the Service Contract Act, and other statutes applicable to federal contracts for construction and for the provision of goods and services.
The mission of the Department of Labor is to foster, promote, and develop the welfare of the wage earners, job seekers, and retirees of the United States; improve working conditions; advance opportunities for profitable employment; and assure work-related benefits and rights.