A popular Miami-Dade deli underpaid its employees by more than $97,000, feds say
A Sunny Isles Beach deli market that does steady business didn’t steadily pay its employees properly, the U.S. Department of Labor announced.
Matryoshka Deli Food, 18100 Collins Ave., paid $97,655 in back pay and liquidated damages to 26 workers, an average of $3,755.19 per employee after violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).
Labor’s Wage and Hour investigators say Matryoshka management didn’t pay overtime rates when employees worked beyond 40 hours in a workweek, as required by FLSA. Instead, management, “noted the overtime payments as bonuses on payroll records and paid them at straight-time rates.”
“In addition, Matryoshka Deli violated FLSA record-keeping requirements by not recording the appropriate overtime pay and not keeping an accurate record of hours worked for all employees.”
Phone and text messages left for Matryoshska management — Valerii Pugachov and Tetyana Pugachova, according to state records — weren’t returned.
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“Failure to pay overtime correctly continues to be one of the most common violations we encounter. Masking overtime hours and payments as bonuses does not forgive the employer’s obligation to pay employees the wages owed – at the correct rate,” said Acting Wage and Hour Division District Director Michael Gannet. “Employers unsure of their legal obligations under the law should contact their local Wage and Hour Division office for assistance.”
Employers can contact the Wage and Hour Division at 866-4-US-WAGE (487-9243).
