Domino’s Franchisee Finally Forced To Pay Up After Treating Workers Like Indentured Servants
Did you know that the days of indentured servitude are gone? Yes, it’s true! There is such a thing as a federal minimum wage and regulations regarding how you treat your employees. As such, a Domino’s Pizza franchisee is on the hook for $371,675 in back wages after an investigation by the Labor Department unearthed some disturbing patterns in how it treated its workers.
The company has 19 franchise locations in Florida, and it sounds like it was less than a treat to work there before the Labor Department stepped in. The agency said it found multiple violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act’s overtime, minimum wage and record-keeping provisions, reports the Sun-Sentinel.
From what investigators report, we’re amazed employees held out as long as they did. Workers were paid as if they were tipped workers and as such, earned hourly wage rates as low as $5.15 instead of the federal minimum of $7.25. And when you’re not actually earning tips along side that, well, that’s ridiculous.
The company also made illegal deductions from wages to pay for workers’ uniforms, instead of providing them, and didn’t properly calculate and compensate those employees who were tipped for working overtime.
One thing we’re sure of — employees probably won’t be spending any of that hard-earned back pay on a Domino’s Pizza any time soon.
Domino’s Pizza franchise owner agrees to pay back wages to Palm Beach workers [Orlando Sentinel]
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