3 Key West restaurants didn’t pay overtime to workers. The bill was more than $162,000
Three Key West restaurants have paid a total of $162,310 in back wages after failing to pay workers overtime as required by the Fair Labor Standards Act, the U.S. Department of Labor said.
Investigators discovered the operators of Little Pearl, Thirsty Mermaid and Antonia’s did not pay overtime to workers employed through the Key West staffing company Paradise Hospitality Solutions and also their own workers when they clocked in more than 40 hours in a week.
The department recovered $162,310 in back wages to 45 workers from the three restaurants.
Antonia’s paid one employee a flat salary with no overtime pay, the department said, and racked up additional violations when the worker put in more than 40 hours in one week.
Of the 45, 21 of the workers were from Little Pearl, 14 from Thirsty Mermaid and 10 from Antonia’s, according to the department.
The owner of Little Pearl declined to comment on the case. No one from Antonia’s or Thirsty Mermaid returned messages left at the restaurants.
“Essential workers deserve to take home every penny of their hard-earned wages,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Daniel Cronin, in Miami. “Leased or temporary employees are entitled to the same workplace rights as all other employees. We remain committed to ensuring that all workers get paid the wages they have earned, and to enforcing the law so that employers compete on a level playing field.”
The agency can be reached at 866-487-9243. The Wage and Hour complaint section of the Department of Labor website has information on how to file a complaint.
This story was originally published June 9, 2021 at 1:36 PM.
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