Florida restaurants in the spotlight for payroll violations
Restaurant owners in Florida will need to ensure that their books are as squeaky clean as their facilities when investors come around, as the United States Department of Labor recently announced an ongoing enforcement initiative. Through upcoming investigations by Wage and Hour Division representatives, the DOL hopes to identify and penalize employers that are denying their staff members the earnings owed for their time and attendance on the job.
"The restaurant industry employs some of our country's lowest-paid workers who, especially during hard economic times, are vulnerable to exploitation. We will continue our effort to promote awareness and improve compliance in this industry," said James Schmidt, district director for the the Wage and Hour Division in Tampa.
Some of the issues that have been noted in Florida's restaurant scene include failures to issue minimum wage to all covered employees, not paying for overtime and keeping incomplete records for all staff members.
Overtime employee attendance is especially problematic for restaurant owners because tipped employees do not need to receive the standard minimum wage rate - $7.25 - for all of their hours worked. Employers are only obligated to pay them $2.13 an hour if their gratuity makes up the difference.
However, their overtime pay is not calculated on the base rate, contrary to what some supervisors might think. Tipped staff members such as servers and bartenders must be paid one-and-a-half times the $7.25 per hour or their normal hourly earnings.
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