Wage and Hour Division (WHD)

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PARK RIDGE, Ill. -- The U.S. Department of Labor has filed a legal action against George Paziotopoulos and P.K. Restaurant Inc., doing business as Pickwick Restaurant in Park Ridge, for alleged repeated violations of the overtime provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

The department’s complaint seeks to recover back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages for current and former employees of the restaurant. It also alleges that the employer failed to pay back wages from a previous investigation covering the period from January 2002 to January 2003.

The department’s Wage and Hour Division conducted an investigation of Pickwick Restaurant that began in January 2003. The investigation found that George Paziotopoulos failed to pay workers time and one-half their regular rates of pay for all hours worked in excess of 40 per week.

The FLSA requires employees to be paid the federal minimum wage for all hours worked and time and one-half their regular rates of pay for hours worked beyond 40 in a week. The FLSA provides an exemption from both minimum wage and overtime pay for bona fide executive, administrative, professional and outside sales employees. To qualify for exemption, employees generally must meet certain job duty and salary tests. Employers must also maintain accurate time and payroll records.

Effective July 24, 2007, the federal minimum wage for covered, nonexempt employees rose to $5.85 per hour. The minimum wage will increase to $6.55 per hour effective July 24, 2008, and to $7.25 per hour effective July 24, 2009.

The Wage and Hour Division concluded 31,987 compliance actions and recovered more than $171 million in back wages for more than 246,000 employees in fiscal year 2006. Back-wage collections last year represent a 30 percent increase over back wages collected in fiscal 2001. The number of workers receiving back wages has increased by 14 percent since fiscal 2001.

For more information, call the Department of Labor’s toll-free helpline at (866) 4US-WAGE (487-9243). Information is also available on the Internet at www.wagehour.dol.gov. Information about the current exemption can be found at http://www.dol.gov/fairpay.

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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.