Florida Restaurant Chain Pays $115,966 in Back Wages After Coronavirus Closures Lead to Missed Payroll

WEST PALM BEACH, FL – After an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD), Hurricane Wings Management LLC – a restaurant chain based in West Palm Beach, Florida – has paid $115,966 in back wages to 160 employees for minimum wage and overtime violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) at two locations.

WHD investigators determined Hurricane Wings Management LLC and another location operating as Hurricane Grill & Wings of Winter Haven, violated the FLSA by missing payroll and failing to pay employees any wages after temporarily closing the locations due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“Employers must pay their employees all of the wages they have earned for all of the hours they have worked, no later than their regularly scheduled payday,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Tony Pham, in Miami, Florida. “The U.S. Department of Labor is committed to educating employers and improving compliance with federal wage laws to protect American workers and to level the playing field for law-abiding employers. We encourage employers to reach out to us with questions and to use the wide variety of tools we offer to ensure they clearly understand their responsibilities.”

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 and confidential calls to local WHD offices.

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 that discover overtime or minimum wage violations may self-report and resolve those violations without litigation through the PAID program. Information is also available at https://www.dol.gov/agencies/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 paid sick leave and expanded family and medical leave requirements of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, 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.