Wage and Hour Division (WHD)

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. --

The U.S. Labor Department today announced that the operator of Chef Lin Buffet, Chattanooga, Tenn., has agreed to pay $130,395 in back wages to 25 workers. An investigation by the department’s Wage and Hour Division found employee wages were not paid in accordance with the provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

“The department is committed to ensuring that all workers receive the wages they have earned,” said Alfred B. Robinson, acting administrator of the Wage and Hour Division. “We are pleased to have recovered more than $130,000 for these workers.”

Wage and Hour investigators found that the restaurant operator, Lin’s Brother, Inc., failed to keep records of hours worked and pay for servers and kitchen workers, who were reportedly paid in cash. The investigation uncovered employees working up to 65 hours per week and did not receive minimum wages or overtime pay.

The FLSA requires that covered workers be paid at least the federal minimum wage for all hours worked and time and one-half their regular rate of pay, including commissions, for all hours worked over 40 in a single work week. The law also requires employers to maintain accurate records of employees’ wages, hours and other conditions of employment.

For more information about the FLSA and other laws administered by the Wage and Hour Division, call the department’s toll-free help line at 1-866-4USWAGE (1-866-487-9243); visit the Internet at www.wagehour.dol.gov; or contact the Nashville Wage and Hour Division office located in the Airport Executive Plaza, 1321 Murfreesboro Rd., Suite 511 or by telephone at (615) 781-5343.

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