US Department of Labor recovers $47K in back wages for 30 workers after investigation finds Miramar Beach restaurant violated law

MIRAMAR BEACH, FL – A federal investigation has recovered $47,088 for 30 employees from the operator of a Miramar Beach restaurant who denied them their rightfully earned overtime wages. 

Investigators with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division found MTLE LLC, operating as Mezcal Mexican Grill, violated the overtime and recordkeeping regulations of the Fair Labor Standards Act. They determined the employer:

• Failed to pay time-and-one-half the employee’s rate of pay for hours worked in excess of 40 in a workweek. The employer paid straight-time rates for all hours of work. Bartenders and servers were paid only their straight-time cash wage for all hours, including those in excess of 40 in a workweek.  
• Failed to maintain complete time records and addresses of workers.

Mezcal Mexican Grill leased workers from Good Stand, a staffing company that paid the workers, and investigators determined that the workers were jointly employed by Good Stand and Mezcal Mexican Grill. 

“Employers who use staffing agencies to provide workers and then continue to control and manage them are responsible for ensuring they are paid as the law requires,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Wildalí De Jesús in Orlando, Florida. “This case should remind other restaurant employers to review their pay practices and employment relationships. We encourage employers, workers and staffing companies to contact the Wage and Hour Division with questions.”

The Wage and Hour Division provides multiple tools, including a Restaurant Compliance Assistance Toolkit, to help employers understand their responsibilities under the law. Workers can call the division confidentially with questions – regardless of their immigration status – and the department can speak with callers in more than 200 languages.

For information about the FLSA and other laws enforced by the division, contact the agency’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243) or visit the agency’s website to learn more about the Wage and Hour Division, including a search tool to use if you think you may be owed back wages collected by the division.