Wage and Hour Division (WHD)

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NEW YORK -- La Mela Ristorante Italiano Inc., doing business on lower Manhattan’s Mulberry St. as La Mela Restaurant, has agreed to pay 88 employees over $148,000 in minimum wage and overtime back wages following an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division into alleged violations of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

“Affected employees of this restaurant included waiters, busboys and kitchen workers,” said Philip Jacobson, New York City district director for the Wage and Hour Division. “Our investigation found that many of these employees were required to work more than 40 hour workweeks without being properly compensated for overtime hours worked, and that some were paid much less than the minimum hourly rate required by federal law. This settlement should remind all employers of their legal responsibility to properly pay their employees for all hours worked.”

The FLSA requires that employees be paid at least the applicable minimum wage and time and one-half their regular rate of pay for hours worked over 40 per week. It also requires employers to keep accurate records of employees’ wages, hours and other conditions of employment.

The investigation by the department’s Manhattan Wage and Hour Division office showed that some workers were actually expected to work only for tips, and that the employer failed to keep accurate records throughout the investigative period which covered Jan. 4, 2003 through Jan. 1, 2005.

Once the owners of the restaurant, located in “Little Italy,” were informed of the apparent FLSA violations, they agreed to come into full compliance with the law in the future and to pay the 88 workers a total of $148,373 in back wages. The payments will be made in monthly installments, with the last payment scheduled no later than Oct. 30, 2006.

Information on the requirements of the FLSA may be obtained by calling the department’s toll-free help line at 1-866-4USWAGE (1-866-487-9243). Information is also available on the Internet at www.wagehour.dol.gov.

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