CA restaurant settles with Labor Commissioner for $2 million for paying employees in cash without heeding wage and hour laws
Paying employees in cash without properly following wage and hour laws can be detrimental to any business, as evidenced by a recent case coming out of Fresno. The California Labor Commissioner’s Office settled with a Fresno restaurant for $2 million after finding that the owner violated state labor laws governing record keeping, payroll timekeeping and paying employees in cash without wage statements.
Several state agencies were involved in the investigation that found that at least 32 employees, some of whom were undocumented, were paid a salary in cash and were not compensated for overtime, split shifts, meal breaks and contract wages.
With the recent passage of Assembly Bill 594, public prosecutors now have the authority to enforce the violation of specified labor laws through civil or criminal actions without specific authorization from the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement. The City of Fresno appears to have pioneered the effort to pursue wage theft cases against employers by being the first to prosecute the Fresno restaurant under the new legislation. The Fresno County District Attorney’s Office then referred the case to the Department of Industrial Relations Bureau of Field Enforcement (BOFE) which then began its investigation in 2019.
Please contact Rosasco Law Group to make sure you are following all labor laws with your payroll processes. We can assist your office at every step of the employment process, hiring, payroll, termination, and any other issues that may come along.
