El Paso Mexican Grill to pay more than $600K in back wages

Megan Wyatt | The Daily Advertiser

Show Caption Hide Caption Protections for whistleblowers The U.S. Department of Labor offers a program to protect employees who step forward and report workplace violations. The Whistleblower Protection Program enforces the whistleblower provisions of more than twenty whistleblower statutes protecting employees who report violations of various workplace safety and health issues.

El Paso Mexican Grill must pay $654,366 in back wages to 567 employees at 23 of its locations to resolve labor law violations.

Nearly $50,000 of that will go to 70 people affected in Lafayette.

El Paso locations at 3910 Ambassador Caffery Parkway and 1809 W. Pinhook Road are among the 23 restaurants where violations occurred, according to a Monday announcement by the U.S. Department of Labor.

More: Scott boudin biz owes $138K in back wages

Investigators with the department's Wage and Hour Division said that El Paso violated the Fair Labor Standards Act by:

failing to pay employees for all hours worked

deducting costs for uniforms from workers' pay

paying some kitchen staff flat salaries without regard to number of hours worked

paying tipped employees time-and-one-half of their direct cash wages for overtime hours instead of basing rates on the full minimum wage of $7.25 per hour

failing to keep accurate records of hours worked by salaried kitchen staff

inaccurately recording waitstaff's earnings

El Paso agreed to pay $49,323.96 to a total of 70 employees at the Lafayette restaurants as a result of the investigation.

Here's the Department of Labor's breakdown of what El Paso has agreed to pay to affected employees at each location:

Alexandria: $86,412.89 to 58 employees

$86,412.89 to 58 employees Baton Rouge: $45,484.32 to 33 employees

$45,484.32 to 33 employees Cut Off: $2,662.30 to 15 employees

$2,662.30 to 15 employees Gonzales: $39,984.00 to 32 employees

$39,984.00 to 32 employees Hammond: $46,712.40 to 15 employees

$46,712.40 to 15 employees Houma: $6,467.45 to 16 employees

$6,467.45 to 16 employees Lafayette: $9,281.23 to 38 employees

$9,281.23 to 38 employees Lafayette: $40,042.73 to 32 employees

$40,042.73 to 32 employees Laplace: $77,558.09 to 27 employees

$77,558.09 to 27 employees Luling: $48,743.07 to 46 employees

$48,743.07 to 46 employees Mandeville: $8,621.40 to 19 employees

$8,621.40 to 19 employees Metairie: $48,192.43 to 58 employees

$48,192.43 to 58 employees New Orleans: $50,555.63 to 46 employees

$50,555.63 to 46 employees Raceland: $13,494.05 to 15 employees

$13,494.05 to 15 employees Slidell: $16,032.30 to 16 employees

$16,032.30 to 16 employees Thibodaux: $9,953.65 to 14 employees

$9,953.65 to 14 employees Mary Esther, Florida: $21,212.23 to 14 employees

$21,212.23 to 14 employees Mary Esther, Florida: $18,931.00 to 13 employees

$18,931.00 to 13 employees Pensacola, Florida: $58,459.44 to 48 employees

$58,459.44 to 48 employees Sanford, Florida: $5,565.43 to 12 employees

No employees at the Crowley, New Iberia or Lake Charles locations of the restaurant were affected, according to the results of the investigation.

If you think you are owed back wages, you can search the Wage and Hour Division's database at webapps.dol.gov/wow/.

Employers who discover overtime or minimum wage violations may self-report and resolve those violations without litigation. For more information about laws enforced by the Wage and Hour Division, call 866-487-9243 or visit dol.gov/whd.

"Companies that fail to pay employees the wages they have legally earned must not gain a competitive advantage over those that comply with the law," Troy Mouton, Wage and Hour Division New Orleans District Director, said in a news release.

"The U.S. Department of Labor encourages restaurant owners and all employers to reach out to their local Wage and Hour Division office for information about how to comply, and to make use of the many tools we offer to explain their responsibilities and how to avoid violations."

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