Wage and Hour Division (WHD)

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SAN FRANCISCO -- More than 300 waiters and waitresses at 10 area International House of Pancakes (IHOP) restaurants are due $363,000 in back wages following an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division. Investigators found that the owners of the 10 IHOP restaurant branches failed to properly record work hours, resulting in violations of minimum wage and overtime pay requirements.

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requires that employers pay covered non-exempt employees the minimum wage for all hours worked and no less than one-and-one-half times their regular rate of pay for hours worked over 40 in a workweek.

The waiters and waitresses, who worked at IHOP branches in Daly City, San Bruno, Belmont, Redwood City, Foster City, Newark, Santa Clara, San Jose, Livermore and Manteca, received the first of three equal back wage payments Jan. 20 for work performed between August 2003 and August 2005. The employees will receive additional payments Feb. 20 and March 20.

The owners came into immediate compliance at the onset of the investigation and worked with the department to resolve the issues identified. Measures are now in place to ensure that pre-shift, break and post-shift time are counted as work hours. The owners also amended their record keeping system to accurately account for hours employees work at more than one restaurant branch during the same workweek.

“The Labor Department is committed to protecting workers’ minimum wage and overtime rights to ensure that they receive all the wages they have earned,” said George Friday Jr., regional administrator of the Wage and Hour Division, San Francisco. “In this case, the owners’ cooperation is a model in resolving pay issues amicably with the common goal of compliance.”

The San Jose office of the Wage and Hour Division investigated the case. Employers and employees can visit www.wagehour.dol.gov for more information about the FLSA. Many materials are available in languages other than English.

Information about the FLSA is also available from the San Francisco Wage and Hour office at (415) 744-5590 or the Department of Labor's toll-free help line at 1-866-4US-WAGE (1-866-487-9243).

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