Two Alaska restaurant chains have to pay employees about $835,000 in overtime pay and damages. The state’s Department of Labor and Workforce Development investigated Taco King and Gallo’s Mexican Restaurants after receiving several complaints by employees since 2007 and a number of anonymous calls.
The unpaid overtime wages and damages will be distributed to 159 employees. The damages are equal to the unpaid amount, meaning the employees will receive double what their wages would have originally been.
Deborah Kelly, director of labor standards and safety, said this is the largest case of unpaid wages in recent memory, and company-wide audits like these are rare.
“Our goal is to ensure that employees are paid properly and employers are educated so they know the requirements of the law,” Kelly said. “And if they continue to not pay their employees properly they could potentially see a case such as this one.”
Kelly said employees should track their own hours and pay and report discrepancies to her division.
Taco King and Gallo’s have locations in Anchorage and Fairbanks. All of restaurants that were audited are owned by Abraham Gallo. The state did not assess any fines, and all of the money will go to the employees.
Investigator Donna Nass, who looked into the matter, said Gallo and his staff were very cooperative and are fixing their payroll practices. Her department will follow up with surprise investigations to make sure the restaurants are still in compliance, she said.
Anne Hillman is the healthy communities editor at Alaska Public Media and a host of Hometown, Alaska. Reach her at ahillman@alaskapublic.org. Read more about Anne here.
