WINTER PARK, Fla. — A US Department of Labor investigation has found that a Central Florida restaurant chain withheld thousands of dollars in wages from their employees.
- Rios Rodriguez Enterprises fined by Labor Dept.
- Accused of withholding wages from tipped employees
- Experts say this is an industrywide problem
The Labor Dept. says five Mexican restaurants across Central Florida withheld more than $80,000 in wages, including Agave Azul in Orlando and Winter Park, and La Fiesta in Ormond Beach and Port Orange.
The report found that restaurants owned and operated by Rios Rodriguez Enterprises owed 91 of their employees $83,577 in back wages.
The report found the company failed to pay tipped employees the federal minimum wage for all hours worked.
It also says they failed to pay cooks for overtime they worked.
Attorney Carlos Leach, who’s worked these types of claims for almost 13 years now, says this is an industry-wide problem.
“The restaurant and service industry in general has an issue with misappropriating employee’s wages, for a number of issues,” Leach said.
Leach says his law firm alone gets at least a dozen complaints like this a week. He says often times restaurant managers are under pressure to cut costs.
“One of the easiest ways to do that is to not have employees clock in or out,” Leach said.
He says many times servers just aren’t aware of the law, so many violations go unreported.
And Leach said if you’re a victim of lost wages, chances are you’re not the only one in your restaurant.
“Typically when the restaurant does this to one employee, they do it to all across the board. Typically these claims lend themselves to collective or class actions for everyone involved,” Leach said.
If you think you may be a victim of lost wages, you can call the Wage and Hour Division of the Dept. of Labor at 866-487-9243.
Rios Rodriguez Enterprises will also have to pay more than $21,000 in penalties for repeated violations.