Suburban pancake house ordered to pay $110K to employees for wage violations

BLOOMINGDALE, Ill. - A suburban restaurant and its owners have been ordered to pay over $100,000 to nearly 30 workers over wage violations.

Following an investigation, the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of the Solicitor filed a complaint alleging that Bentley's Pancake House in Bloomingdale and the owners, Pete and Stavroula Giafis, unlawfully kept servers' tips, paid kitchen staff at their regular rates for over 40 hours in a workweek and failed to keep accurate pay records from at least Feb. 5, 2018, to Feb. 2, 2022. 

On Friday, a judge entered an agreed consent order that will now require the suburban pancake house and the Giafis to pay a total of $110,000 in tip violations, overtime back wages and liquidated damages to 28 workers. 

Additionally, the restaurant is required to pay $13,000 in civil money penalties for willful violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

"Historically, the restaurant industry employs low-paid workers and for these employees each dollar earned is significant to them and their family’s economic survival," said Wage and Hour District Director Tom Gauza in Chicago. "Every worker deserves to be paid for hours they work and the overtime they earned. Employers must know the wage laws that apply to their employees and pay them accordingly."

As a part of the judgment, the restaurant will also be required to end its practice of partial cash payments and provide employees with checks and payroll stubs that show their hours worked, rates of pay and withholdings.