Hartford Restaurant Pays Employees More Than $30K In Back Wages And Damages

Hartford, CT (WorkersCompensation.com) - So many times, wage theft goes unpunished, and employees end up losing it. But some Connecticut employees that fell victim to wage theft will be compensated. The U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Wage and Hour Division (WHD) announced that East Hartford restaurant Nolita Ristorante and its owner Vishal Sharma must pay $19,657 in back wages to employees. In addition, they must also pay an equal amount in liquidated damages. 

The money will go to 14 current and former employers to settle violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FSLA) the restaurant and owner are guilty of committing, authorities said. According to the report in this administrative settlement, the investigation uncovered that the employers violated FLSA minimum-wage provisions when they failed to pay their workers the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour.

Also, a few of the front-of-the-house workers and dishwashers were being paid a flat rate in cash that did not cover all the hours they worked at the minimum wage rate. Employees who worked overtime were not paid time-and-a-half for their services. The employer is also accused of failing to record or pay workers for all of the hours that some of them had worked, and did not keep adequate records of employee work hours, considered a major violation. 

In a press release, , stated, “Employers must pay their employees all the wages they have legally earned,” said David R. Gerrain, Wage, and Hour District Direction in Hartford in a press release. “Our goal is to ensure that employers have the tools they need to comply with the law, which levels the playing field for law-abiding competitors in the restaurant industry.”

A DOL spokesperson tells WorkersCompensation.com that “The WHD conducts investigations for a number of reasons, all having to do with enforcement of the laws and assuring an employer’s compliance. Employees who discover overtime or minim wage violations may self-report and resolve those violations without litigation through the Payroll Audit Independent Determination program.” This program “facilitates resolution of potential overtime and minim wage violations under the Fair Labor Standards Act.”

Share This Article: