Maggiano's Little Italy Ordered To Pay $49K In Overtime Wages

ATLANTA -- A federal court has ordered the owners of Maggiano's Little Italy to pay more than $49,000 in back wages and damages to 70 employees for violating minimum wage, overtime, and record-keeping provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia, Atlanta Division, ordered Brinker International and Brinker International Payroll Company to pay the penalties after an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division.

Investigators found the company required certain tipped employees to arrive before the opening of the restaurant to perform prep work, but did not record or pay employees for this work time. This practice resulted in failure to pay the required minimum wage and failure to pay employees required overtime when they worked more than 40 hours in a workweek.

Investigator also found the restaurant failed to maintain and preserve accurate records of the number of hours worked by employees, a violation of the FLSA record-keeping requirements.

“Employers are obligated to pay employees the wages they have legally earned. Our enforcement ensures employers that violate the law do not to gain an unfair competitive advantage over those that comply,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Eric Williams, in Atlanta. “The U.S. Department of Labor encourages all employers to reach out to their local Wage and Hour Division office for information about how to comply, and to avoid violations.”

Maggiano's has three Atlanta locations: Buckhead, Dunwoody and Cumberland Mall in Smyrna.

(For more news like this, find your local Patch here. If you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app; download the free Patch Android app here.)

Shutterstock