Wage and Hour Division (WHD)

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OMAHA, Neb. -- The U.S. Department of Labor has filed a lawsuit against Barbeque Ventures LLC, Barbeque Ventures of Nebraska LLC and Old Market Ventures LLC, known as Famous Dave’s, to collect $92,516 in back wages due 25 employees. The department alleges the enterprise violated the overtime and record keeping provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

The department’s Wage and Hour Division conducted an investigation of the franchised barbeque restaurant chain as part of its restaurant compliance initiative. The investigative period covered May 2004 to May 2006 and included all five locations in Omaha and Bellevue, Neb., and Council Bluffs, Iowa.

“The employees primarily were kitchen workers and some were restaurant servers. These workers were mainly immigrants, working at more than one of the five locations,” explained Percella Maupins, district director in Des Moines for the Wage and Hour Division. “When an employee worked more than 40 hours at one location the employer paid the overtime premium. However, hours were not combined for overtime purposes when an employee worked at more than one location during a pay period.”

The complaint alleges that the enterprise did not maintain accurate records of employee hours worked and failed to show the total straight time and overtime earnings for each work week. The enterprise has continued its practice of withholding unpaid overtime compensation. The department is seeking a judgment to restrain the enterprise from continued and future violations of the FLSA.

The Fair Labor Standards Act requires covered employees to be paid the federal minimum wage for all hours worked and time and one-half the employee’s regular rate of pay for hours worked over 40 in a week unless the employee is otherwise exempt. Employers must also maintain accurate time and payroll records.

For more information on 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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