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.