Wage and Hour Division (WHD)

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MIAMI -- Café Vialetto in Coral Gables, Fla., has agreed to pay $53,324 in back wages to 27 employees following a determination by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division that the restaurant failed to properly pay its employees for hours worked between May 2005 and April 2007.

Wage and Hour Division investigators determined that the restaurant failed to pay wait staff for work done before and after their regular shifts, resulting in minimum wage violations. Overtime violations were found for hourly paid employees who were paid straight time for all hours worked and nonexempt salaried kitchen staff who did not receive overtime payments when working more than 40 hours.

The investigation revealed that the company also did not keep accurate records of all hours worked. The employer did not maintain a record of hours worked by kitchen staff and did not record hours worked by wait staff outside their assigned shift hours.

“The Fair Labor Standards Act has very specific rules for paying tipped employees and other hourly workers, and employers who are unsure of the law should contact the Wage and Hour Division for assistance,” said Will Garnitz, district director for the Wage and Hour Division in Miami.

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requires that employees be paid at least the federal minimum wage and time and one-half their regular rates of pay for hours worked beyond 40 per week. The law also requires that employers maintain accurate records of employees’ wages, hours and other conditions of employment.

Employers of “tipped employees” must pay a cash wage of at least $2.13 per hour if they claim a tip credit against their minimum wage obligation. If an employee’s tips combined with the employer’s cash wage of at least $2.13 per hour do not equal the minimum hourly wage, the employer must make up the difference. Certain other conditions must also be met.

For more information, call the department’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (866-487-9243); visit the Internet at www.wagehour.dol.gov; or contact the Miami District Office of the Wage and Hour Division, 10300 Sunset Drive (Sunset Center), Room 255; telephone: 305- 596-9874.

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