U.S. Department of Labor Investigation Results in Las Vegas Restaurant Paying $212,861 to 71 Employees for Overtime Violations

LAS VEGAS, NV – After an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD), Bonito Michoacan Inc. – a restaurant in Las Vegas, Nevada – will pay $212,861 in back wages and liquidated damages to 71 employees after the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) found the employer violated the overtime requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

WHD investigators found Bonito Michoacan Inc. failed to pay employees overtime when they worked more than 40 hours per week. Instead, the employer paid restaurant employees at their straight time rates, in cash, for overtime hours, and recorded some of those payments as a “bonus” in the payroll records. The employer’s failure to record and count mandatory staff meetings as work time led the employer to fail to pay employees for some of the hours that they worked, further contributing to the overtime violations. Bonito Michoacan also violated FLSA recordkeeping requirements by failing to maintain accurate time and payroll records.

“Employers are responsible for ensuring that they pay employees all the wages they have legally earned, including overtime, and for keeping accurate payroll records,” said Wage and Hour Division Assistant District Director Higinio Ramos, in Las Vegas, Nevada. “The U.S. Department of Labor is eager to assist employers to comply with the law and avoid violations such as those found in this case.”

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, confidential calls, or in-person visits to local WHD offices. In addition, WHD provides employers with compliance assistance resources related to overtime to help them comply with the FLSA.

For more information about the FLSA and other laws enforced by the Wage and Hour Division, contact the Division’s 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.  Information is also available at www.dol.gov/agencies/whd including a search tool to use if you think you 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 and 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.