Wage and Hour Division (WHD)

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NEW YORK -- Farmbria Food Center, a supermarket in Cambria Heights, Queens, has agreed to pay almost $148,000 in minimum wage and overtime back wages to 64 employees to settle a U.S. Department of Labor lawsuit alleging violations of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

Named in the department’s lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, were: An and Brothers Inc. doing business as Farmbria Food Center, a corporation; and An Yun III, individually and as owner of the corporation.

According to Philip Jacobson, district director for the department’s Wage and Hour Division in New York City, an investigation found Farmbria employees were not being paid the federal minimum wage and were not properly compensated for all the hours over 40 they worked in typical work weeks. The investigation also found that the employer was not maintaining proper records of employees’ hours of work and rates of pay.

“This court action should send a clear reminder to employers of their obligation to keep proper records of all the hours their employees work and then to pay them properly for those hours,” said Jacobson.

A consent judgment prohibits the defendants from future violations of the minimum wage, overtime and recordkeeping provisions of the FLSA. The court order, signed by U.S. District Court Judge Frederic Block on Sept. 14, also prohibits the defendants from taking retaliatory action against any employees who exercise their rights under the law and orders them to pay a total of $147,982 in back wages and interest in six installments. The back wage payments cover the period between June 20, 2004 and June 18, 2006.

The department’s Wage and Hour Division district office in New York City investigated this case, and the lawsuit was filed by the department’s Regional Solicitor’s Office in New York City. For more information about the requirements of the FLSA, call the U.S. Department of Labor’s toll-free help line at 1(866) 4US-WAGE (487-9243). Information is also available on the Internet at www.wagehour.dol.gov.

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