US Department of Labor recovers $50K in back wages, damages for dishwashers, cooks at Indiana cantina

Employer:     Toremac LLC operating as Papi Chulo's Cantina

                       330 IN-46

                       Spencer, IN

Investigation findings: An investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division found willful violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act’s overtime and record keeping provisions by Toremac LLC, a Bloomington, Indiana company that operates the full-service Mexican cuisine restaurant Papi Chulo’s Cantina and five other locations under the names El Ranchero and La Una in Bloomington and Spencer.

Investigators found the employer paid back-of-house, non-exempt employees such as dishwashers and cooks a salary for all hours worked and failed to pay overtime for hours over 40 in a workweek. The company also failed to record daily work hours for these employees. The company confirmed it used the same pay practice at the El Ranchero locations in Bloomington and Spencer along with the La Una location in Bloomington 

Resolution: The company paid a total of $50,566, which represents $ $25,283 in back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages to 30 employees. 

The Wage and Hour Division also assessed $35,610 in civil money penalties for willful violations of the FLSA, which the company has since paid. 

Quote: “This restaurant’s practice of paying a set salary to cooks and dishwashers, regardless of hours worked, is a willful violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act, which requires most workers to be paid overtime for all hours worked over 40 in a work week,” said Wage and Hour District Director Aaron Loomis, in Indianapolis. “Restoring these wages puts money back in the pockets of vulnerable workers, who may not know their rights under federal wage laws.”

Background: Learn more about the Wage and Hour Division, a search tool to use if you think you may be owed back wages collected by the division and how to file an online complaint. For confidential compliance assistance, employees and employers can call the agency’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243), regardless of where they are from.

Download the agency’s new Timesheet App for iOS and Android devices – also available in Spanish – to ensure hours and pay are accurate.