Apr

2012 2

According to the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), 500 employees at 34 popular Boston area restaurants are owed a total of $1.3 million in back wages. The DOL has an ongoing enforcement initiative that has found significant Fair Labor Standards Act violations over the past year and a half, according to the Boston Globe

Some restaurants paid employees flat salaries worked without overtime pay, failed to combine hours worked at multiple locations for overtime purposes, paid incorrect overtime rates to tipped employees, and made illegal deductions from employees’ wages. The agency also uncovered a growing trend of businesses misclassifying restaurant workers as independent contractors as a way to avoid minimum wage.

“We were surprised by the results. This is substantial,” said George A. Rioux, the division’s district director in Boston. “We’re not getting the change in behavior we want. Companies are paying back wages and agreeing to compliance and it’s not enough to finally wake up and see that we’re serious. Our intent is to achieve compliance and maintain compliance in the future.”

Restauranteurs exploiting workers isn’t a novel concept to those who have worked in the industry, but most people in food service need the jobs despite the revolving door and cloudy standards. Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis reiterated this point in a statement:

“The restaurant industry employs some of our country’s lowest paid workers, who are vulnerable to exploitation. In response to the extensive level of noncompliance we discovered, we will expand our efforts to bring the industry into compliance to ensure that employees receive the minimum wage and overtime wages required by law.”

Boston’s newfound wage-theft ring isn’t taking place in small, mom-and-pop shops trying to stay afloat, it’s happening in large, chain establishments, surprisingly. The Boston Globe listed the 34 violators:

1. D’Ann’s Restaurant Abington

2. Fresh City Needham Heights

3. Fresh City Newton Newton Upper Falls

4. Fresh City Woburn

5. Fresh City Burlington

6. Met Bar & Grill Natick

7. Met Bar & Grill Dedham

8. Metropolitan Club Chestnut Hill

9. Miracle of Science Bar + Grill Cambridge

10. Middlesex Lounge Cambridge

11. Tory Row Cambridge

12. Audubon Circle Boston

13. Cambridge 1. Harvard Square Cambridge

14. Cambridge1. Fenway Boston

15. Noon Hill Grill Medfield

16. Not Your Average Joe’s Burlington

17. Not Your Average Joe’s Acton

18. Not Your Average Joe’s Arlington

19. Not Your Average Joe’s Methuen

20. Not Your Average Joe’s Newburyport

21. Not Your Average Joe’s Norwell

22. Not Your Average Joe’s Randolph

23. Not Your Average Joe’s Watertown

24. Not Your Average Joe’s Beverly

25. Not Your Average Joe’s Hyannis

26. Not Your Average Joe’s Dartmouth North Dartmouth

27. Not Your Average Joe’s Lexington

28. Not Your Average Joe’s Medford

29. Not Your Average Joe’s Needham

30. Not Your Average Joe’s Westboro

31. Paul W Marks Everett

32. The Sherborn Inn Sherborn

33. TGI Fridays Framingham

34. Upper Crust Salem