Wage and Hour Division (WHD)

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DETROIT --

Six Chinese buffet-style restaurants in cities throughout Michigan have agreed to pay $150,452 in minimum wage and overtime back wages to 54 workers following investigations by the U.S. Labor Department’s Wage and Hour Division.

“The Labor Department is committed to vigorously enforcing the law to ensure employees, especially low wage immigrant workers as in these cases, are paid wages they are owed,” said James Smith, district director for the Wage and Hour Division in Detroit. “We also want to ensure that employers play by the same rules as their competition.”

The restaurants were investigated under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), the federal minimum wage and overtime law. The investigations disclosed that workers such as cooks and wait-staff were sometimes paid salaries insufficient to equal the minimum wage for all hours worked. Employees also worked more than 40 hours per workweek without required overtime pay.

Panda Forest, Portage, Mich. agreed to pay $55,693 to 15 workers; Gourmet Buffet, Novi, agreed to pay $48,103 to 13 workers; Buffet World, Lansing, agreed to pay $30,520 to 11 workers; China Seafood Buffet, Grand Rapids, agreed to pay $6998 to 3 workers; China King Super Buffet, Rochester Hills, agreed to pay $6,404 to 10 workers; and Ming Garden, Sterling Heights, agreed to pay $2,733 to 13 workers. All restaurants cooperated with the department during the investigations and agreed to pay back wages owed to employees after the Wage and Hour Division explained the requirements of the law. The restaurants also agreed to fully comply with the law in the future.

The FLSA requires that employers pay covered employees the minimum wage for all hours workers and time and one-half the regular rate of pay for hours worked more than 40 in a week. Employers must also maintain accurate time and payroll records.

For more information about the FLSA call the 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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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.