Miami rapper Rick Ross bad boss? Minimum wage, child labor violations at Wingstop stores
Fast food franchises that make employees pay for safety training, background checks and their own uniforms? Ignoring child labor law? And don’t even think about being short on the register.
The U.S. Department of Labor says employees at five Wingstop locations had to pay the cost to work for the boss, Miami rapper Rick Ross’ Boss Wings Enterprises. But, then, Boss Wings Enterprises had to pay $114,427 in back pay, damages and civil money penalties, Labor announced Thursday.
That breaks down as $51,674 in back wages and liquidated damages for 244 workers, about $211.78 per employee, and $62,753 in civil money penalties.
Boss Wings Enterprises, through which Ross owns and operates 30 Wingstop locations, directed all questions about labor violations to Wingstop corporate headquarters when reached by the Miami Herald Tuesday. Wingstop’s corporate headquarters emailed a statement that threw everything back on Boss Wings.
“The restaurants investigated by the DOL are owned and operated by a franchisee, not Wingstop Restaurants Inc.,” the statement said. “Our franchise agreement requires all of our franchisees to operate under our operating standards, which requires compliance with all laws and regulations. We were not previously aware of the DOL action against Boss Wings LLC.”
In addition, the email said Boss Wings’ Wingstop restaurants in the Memphis market are now owned by someone else.
The violations were reported earlier by other outlets, including XXL Magazine.
READ MORE: Child labor violations cost a Florida Chick-fil-A $12,000 in civil penalties
Boss Wings Enterprises is run out of Southhaven, Mississippi by Tommie Roberts (Ross’ mother) and Tawanda Roberts (Ross’ sister). Florida state records say they’re the managers of each of the six Boss Wings Wingstop locations registered in Florida (owners of multiple restaurant franchise locations commonly register each location as its own corporation).
The locations in the Department of Labor investigation were in Starkville (location of Mississippi State University), Oxford (Ole Miss), Tupelo (Elvis Presley’s birthplace), Clarksdale (significant in history of the blues) and Olive Branch.
Labor said Wage and Hour Division investigators found that Boss Wing:
▪ Took enough out of employee paychecks to pay for uniforms and cash register shortages that some workers wound up making less than $7.25 federal minimum wage.
▪ Paycheck deductions for background checks and safety training “illegally decreased the rate of pay in weeks when workers earned overtime and led Boss Wings to pay overtime at rates lower than federal law requires.”
▪ Let a 15-year-old work past 10 p.m. several times in June 2021, which violates the child labor part of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The FLSA says 14 and 15-year-olds can’t work before 7 a.m. or after 7 p.m. between June 1 and Labor Day.
Wage and Hour Division District Director Audrey Hall said, “The law prevents Boss Wings Enterprises LLC from shifting operating costs to workers by deducting the costs of uniforms, cash register shortages or training expenses, or to allow a worker’s pay to fall below the minimum wage rate.”
READ MORE: 2 Dunkin’ Donuts (1 with rodents) and a Chick-fil-A among Miami restaurant filth
The Wage and Hour complaint section of Labor’s website contains information on how to file a complaint if you believe your employer has violated FLSA. Miami’s Wage and Hour Division office can be reached at 305-598-6607. The national helpline is 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243).
No matter the immigration or citizenship status of workers, they can speak with the department, which says it can handle calls in more than 200 languages.
