Missouri Restaurant Pays Back Wages to Employees After Missing Payroll Due to Coronavirus Shutdown

KANSAS CITY, MO – After an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD), Plate Restaurant – based in Kansas City, Missouri – has paid 31 employees $42,534 in back wages after it was unable to make payroll, a violation of the Fair labor Standards Act (FLSA).

Investigators found Plate Restaurant did not have the available funds to pay employees for the hours they had worked in the restaurant’s final pay period, after shutting down due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“Wage and Hour Division personnel worked with Plate ownership to assist them in their commitment to finding avenues to resolve this issue and restore rightfully earned wages to their employees,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Reed Trone, in Kansas City, Kansas. “The U.S. Department of Labor is working to protect employee rights and educate employers during the coronavirus pandemic and encourages employers to call us for assistance to improve their understanding of wage laws and to find resources to assist them during these unprecedented times.”

WHD continues to provide updated information on its website and through extensive outreach efforts to ensure that workers and employers have the information they need about the benefits and protections of this new law.

The Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) helps the U.S. combat and defeat the workplace effects of the coronavirus by giving tax credits to American businesses with fewer than 500 employees either to provide employees with paid leave for the employee’s own health needs or to care for family members. Please visit WHD’s “Quick Benefits Tips” for information about how much leave workers may qualify to use, and the wages employers must pay. The law enables employers to keep their workers on their payrolls, while at the same time ensuring that workers are not forced to choose between their paychecks and the public health measures needed to combat the virus. 

WHD provides additional information on common issues employers and employees face when responding to the coronavirus and its effects on wages and hours worked under the Fair Labor Standards Act and on job-protected leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act at https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/pandemic

For more information about the laws enforced by WHD, call 866-4US-WAGE, or visit www.dol.gov/agencies/whd.

For further information about the coronavirus, please visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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.

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