Carol Warner has been writing about the latest trends in human resources, employment law, education law, safety and security, employee training, and emergency response plans for more than 15 years. She attended East Carolina University and earned a Bachelor’s degree from New York Institute of Technology. Outside of work, she spends free time listening to audiobooks and solving crossword puzzles. Connect with her on LinkedIn.
A Little Caesars franchisee will pay $409,457 for federal wage and hour violations, the Department of Labor (DOL) recently announced.
The case shows how payroll mistakes can turn into expensive liabilities when overtime calculations and recordkeeping controls fall short.
Wage and Hour Violations Trigger Six-Figure Settlement
According to an investigation by the DOL’s Wage and Hour Division, franchise operator MG Fast Food Inc. violated minimum wage and overtime provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).
Federal investigators found that 32 workers at a Little Caesars in Redwood City, CA, were not properly paid. Specifically, the employer:
- Paid straight time to employees who worked more than 40 hours in a workweek instead of overtime premiums, and
- Failed to compensate some employees for all hours worked, resulting in minimum wage violations.
Further, the investigation also determined that the employer failed to keep accurate payroll records in violation of FLSA recordkeeping procedures. Discrepancies between timesheet totals and payroll records affected overtime calculations, according to DOL…