LOS ANGELES – The owner-operators of two Wingstop restaurants have agreed to a $667,414 settlement with 309 employees, including back pay and fines, in the unincorporated communities of East Los Angeles and Walnut Park over allegations of wage violations, officials announced Tuesday.
It’s the largest settlement since the county’s Minimum Wage Ordinance went into effect in 2016, according to the Department of Consumer and Business Affairs.
Following a DCBA investigation, the restaurants’ owner-operators, Far West Restaurant Group, agreed to the settlement for alleged violations which took place from 2017 to 2021, including during the heart of the COVID-19 pandemic, when restaurant employees were considered essential workers.
The settlement includes employee back wages of $192,414 and fines of $475,000.
The investigation was initiated after an individual contacted DCBA to ask about the correct minimum wage in unincorporated Los Angeles County, officials said.
“I thank the worker that raised the question about the right minimum wage and the Office of Labor Equity for seeing this concern through,” LA County Supervisor Hilda Solis, whose first supervisorial district includes East Los Angeles, said in a statement.
“Every worker deserves a fair and safe work environment where exploitation and abuse have no place and, regardless of immigration status, our workers deserve to be informed, heard, and protected,” she added.
Supervisor Holly Mitchell, whose second supervisorial district includes Walnut Park, said “corporate excess profiting off the backs of our working families” will not be tolerated.
“I am glad to see that the County is holding Wingstop accountable for the harm caused and money owed to its employees,” she said. “This serves as an example of the work our Office of Labor Equity will continue to do Countywide to make sure workers are paid the wages they are entitled to.”
The settlement includes automatic disbursements that will be included in the paychecks of affected employees — one as much as $17,000 inclusive of back wages and fines, equivalent to more than one-half of an average worker’s annual wages paid at the minimum wage rate, the DCBA said.
As of July 1, the minimum wage for workers who perform more than two hours of work per week in unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County has increased to $16.90 an hour.
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