An ongoing U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) enforcement initiative focused on the restaurant industry in Massachusetts has allegedly uncovered several violations of the minimum wage, overtime, and recordkeeping provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).
So far, investigations by the Boston District Office of the department’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) have found $1,307,808 in back wages due to 478 employees of multiple establishments.
“Our investigations found that several restaurants violated the FLSA by paying employees flat salaries for all hours worked without overtime pay, failing to combine hours worked at multiple locations for overtime purposes, paying incorrect overtime rates to tipped employees, making illegal deductions from employees’ wages and failing to keep accurate records of employees’ hours,” said George A. Rioux, the division’s district director in Boston.