Federal authorities have recovered more than a quarter of a million dollars in unpaid wages for more than 30 employees who were denied overtime pay at a popular Sioux Falls buffet.
The U.S. Department of Labor announced Thursday, Dec. 15, the recovery of $279,000 in back wages and liquidated damages for 31 employees from Hibachi Grill and Supreme Buffet.
An investigation by the department’s Wage and Hour Division discovered that the restaurant had paid kitchen workers a flat monthly salary and denied them overtime wages as prescribed by federal labor laws. Investigators also found that Hibachi Grill’s owner, H&G Inc., was in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act by failing to maintain accurate records of hours worked, employee’s full names and addresses and failing to post required posters.
“H&G Inc. denied 31 kitchen workers their full wages and hurt these workers and their families by making it more difficult for them to make ends meet,” explained Chad Frasier, director of the Wage and Hour Division’s Denver district. “The Wage and Hour Division knows violations like these are all too common in the restaurant industry, and we leverage resources — such as working cooperatively with advocacy groups — to bring employers into compliance and ensure workers’ rights and benefits are protected under the law.”
Beyond making payouts to employees to recuperate their lost wages, H&G also agreed to conduct internal compliance audits twice yearly and provide managers and workers with ongoing federal wage law trainings.
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The Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division recovered roughly $35 million for more than 29,000 food industry workers in fiscal year 2021.
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