Wage and Hour Division (WHD)

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SAN FRANCISCO -- The Department of Labor has recovered $186,152 for 82 cooks, servers and cashiers who worked at a fast-food chain in California. Employees worked at one or more of the five Manila Good-Ha restaurants located in Los Angeles, Glendale, Panorama City and Union City.

The owners of all five restaurants, Salvador and Fe Wong, paid nonexempt employees a straight-time rate for all hours worked, a violation of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). An investigation by the department’s Wage and Hour Division determined that employees worked up to 50 hours per workweek and earned only a fixed salary without an overtime premium. The FLSA requires that nonexempt employees earn no less than one-and-one-half times their regular rate of pay for any hours worked over 40 per workweek.

In addition to the wage violations, the investigation found that none of the locations kept accurate payroll records and the firm paid many employees in cash. The FLSA requires that employers keep accurate records of all hours worked, regardless of how employees are paid.

“There are many low-wage workers in certain segments of the restaurant industry who are not being paid for overtime hours they’ve worked,” said George Friday Jr., regional administrator of the department’s Wage and Hour Division. “We want to ensure they receive all the wages they’ve earned, and get the word out to employers on how to pay their employees properly.” The Wage and Hour Division recovered nearly $200 million in back wages in fiscal year 2004 for more than 288,000 workers nationwide.

The back wages compensate employees for hours worked between June 2003 and June 2005. The Labor Department is distributing the checks to the workers.

For more information about the FLSA, call the Los Angeles Wage and Hour office at (213) 894-6375 or the Department of Labor's toll-free help line at 1-866-4US WAGE (1-866-487-9243). Information is also available on the Internet at www.wagehour.dol.gov.

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U.S. Department of Labor releases are accessible on the Internet at www.dol.gov. The information in this news release will be made available in alternate format (large print, Braille, audio tape or disc) from the COAST office upon request. Please specify which news release when placing your request at (202) 693-7828 or TTY (202) 693-7755. The Labor Department is committed to providing America’s employers and employees with easy access to understandable information on how to comply with its laws and regulations. For more information, please visit www.dol.gov/compliance.