El Arriero Restaurant will be forced to pay more than $65,000 in back wages after a U.S. Department of Labor investigation.
During an investigation that took place from June 2006 to June 2008, the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division determined El Arriero paid kitchen staff workers a salaried wage without overtime pay and paid wait staff workers tips only with no overtime.The restaurant also was cited for not maintaining proper employee work hours records.
A spokesperson with the department declined to comment on how the investigation was started.
"The department inititates investigations in one of three methods. We either get complaints from employees, we do routine investigations or sometimes we get complaints from competitiors," said U.S. Department of Labor spokesman Brad Mitchell. "To protect those who call we don't disclose how investigations are specifically started."
Mitchell confirmed that some of the employees who will receive compensation are still employed with El Arriero.
The employees will receive checks from the labor department and El Arriero will be forced to pay the department.
