Newsday.com
Restaurant pays back wages, penalties to workers
BY GARY DYMSKI

gary.dymski@newsday.com

October 16, 2008

Mi Tierrita, a restaurant chain with locations in Hempstead, Patchogue and Brentwood, agreed to pay nearly $660,000 in back wages, damages and civil penalties to workers in a settlement announced yesterday by the New York State Department of Labor.

The restaurants, which specialize in Colombian food, paid some service employees as little as $25 a day for a 12-hour workday - $2.08 an hour - said the labor department in a release. Other workers received $325 weekly for a 60-hour workweek.

About 50 workers will share the $659,341 settlement, with about half of them receiving $10,000 or more.

"Minimum wage laws were passed in the midst of the Great Depression because leaders then knew that in difficult economic times it is more important than ever to ensure basic protection for all workers," state labor commissioner M. Patricia Smith said in the release.

State law requires employers to keep records of hours worked for all employees, and to pay minimum wage and overtime. The state minimum wage is $7.15 per hour and $4.60 per hour for food service workers who receive tips.

Jerry Garguilo, the St. James attorney who represented the restaurant in the settlement, said the state's audit found problems with record-keeping.

"Since the audit, record-keeping has been computerized, a time clock has been installed and we have adopted all the recommendations of the labor department," Garguilo said.

Two of the chain's locations were subjects of two previous investigations by the U.S. Department of Labor.