The DoubleTree Hotel in Richardson has agreed to pay $102,592 in back wages to 112 hotel employees after an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division found violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act’s minimum wage, overtime and record-keeping provisions.
The violations impacted low-wage employees including dishwashers, bartenders, wait staff, bellmen, housekeepers and maintenance workers.
Investigators found that the employer failed to compensate employees for work allegedly performed "off the clock," which resulted in minimum wage violations as well as failure to pay overtime and employees improperly classified to avoid paying overtime.
"In this case, we found employees working an average of 86 hours a week without any overtime pay and sometimes receiving far less than the federal minimum wage," Cynthia Watson with the Labor Department said in a news release.
The employer also took wage deductions for lunch breaks whether or not workers took a lunch period. Additionally, the employer failed to maintain accurate records of employees’ wages and work hours, as required by the FLSA.
In addition to paying all back wages owed to the affected employees, the company has agreed to maintain future compliance with the FLSA by ensuring that employees are properly classified and compensated for all hours worked.
