A Subway franchisee with 29 locations in the Tampa Bay, Fla., area must pay 122 employees a total of $7,536 in minimum back wages along with $3,768 in liquidated damages after a ruling by Judge Richard Lazzara of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, Tampa Division.
The judgment resolves a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Department of Labor against Franchise Equity Group Inc., which was conducting business as MacSub, following an investigation by DOL's Wage and Hour Division. After the investigation, it was found that the Subway franchisee violated the Fair Labor Standards Act's minimum wage provisions.
These employees were not paid for work hours after taking Subway "Sandwich Artist Certification" training courses, which breeched the minimum wage requirements. The payments are to be distributed directly to the employees by the company, and funds are required to be returned to the Wage and Hour Division for any employees the company could not contact.
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"Low-wage workers deserve the full protection of federal labor laws," says James Schmidt, director of the Wage and Hour Division's Tampa District Office. "The Wage and Hour Division is continuing its restaurant enforcement initiative throughout Florida to make sure employees of both full-service and limited-service restaurants receive their full pay and that employers who follow the law do not have to face unfair competition from those who ignore it. This lawsuit illustrates that the division will use any enforcement tools necessary to resolve cases where vulnerable workers have been exploited."
The court order mandates that the Subway franchisee is enjoined from future violations of the FLSA.
As required by FLSA, nonexempt employees must be paid at least the federal minimum wage for every hour worked in addition to one and one-half times their regular rates for hours worked over 40 each week. The law also mandates that accurate records of employees' wages, hours and other conditions of employment be preserved.
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