US Department of Labor recovers $106K in back wages for 16 Harrisburg restaurant workers after finding minimum wage, overtime pay violations

HARRISBURG, NC – A U.S. Department of Labor investigation has recovered $106,613 in back wages and liquidated damages for 16 workers after finding a Harrisburg restaurant’s pay practices denied them federally required minimum wage and overtime pay.

Investigators with the department’s Wage and Hour Division found that Sagapo Inc. – operating as Captain Steve’s Family Seafood Restaurant – failed to pay the correct overtime rate to tipped employees for hours over 40 in a workweek, a Fair Labor Standards Act violation. The employer also failed to pay the time-and-one-half overtime rate to other workers paid on a salary or daily-rate basis. Additionally, the division found that Sagapo incurred minimum wage violations when the workers paid on a salary or day rate basis failed to receive at least the federal minimum wage for every hour of work.

“Restaurant industry employers are finding it increasingly difficult to recruit and retain the people they need to do the work required for their businesses to succeed,” explained Wage and Hour Division District Director Richard Blaylock in Raleigh, North Carolina. “Employers who ensure workers are paid their full wages and benefits have a competitive advantage over employers who fail to meet their legal obligations.”

The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that more than 800,000 accommodation and food services industries workers quit their jobs in March 2022, and reports that the need for restaurant workers is expected to grow by 20 percent from 2020-2030 to about 2.4 million jobs.

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. Workers can call the Wage and Hour Division confidentially with questions – regardless of their immigration status – and the department can speak with callers in more than 200 languages.