Selbyville Business Cited, Fined For Violating Fair Labor Standards

The operator of a Selbyville combined restaurant, grocery store and butcher shop has been ordered to pay $300,000 in back wages and liquidated damages to 16 workers – some of whom, according to the US Department of Labor, worked 75 or more hours a week for a flat salary.

The Wage and Hour Division investigation resulted from a complaint filed against APS Market and Grill LLC, which operates as Taqueria La Sierra. The Labor Department said the practices violated overtime payment requirements.

“For workers in the restaurant industry, basic labor rights like minimum wage and overtime are being denied and hard-earned wages are out of reach,” Wage and Hour District Director James Cain in Philadelphia said. “The consent judgment will ensure that these workers receive all of the wages they legally earned and that Taqueria La Sierra is no longer gaining an unfair advantage over other restaurant employers in the area.”

A U.S. District Court consent judgement requires the employer and its owner to pay the back wages and liquidated damages. They are also prohibited from violating the Fair Labor Standards Act in the future. The employer was also assessed a $5,000 civil money penalty.

“This judgment sends a clear message to employers that failure to pay employees their rightfully earned wages will not be tolerated,” Regional Solicitor Oscar L. Hampton III in Philadelphia added.

View the complaint and consent judgment. 

Workers can call the Wage and Hour Division confidentially with questions – regardless of their immigration status – and the department can speak with callers in more than 200 languages.

For more information about the FLSA and other laws enforced by the agency, contact the division’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Learn more about the Wage and Hour Division, including a search tool to use if you think you may be owed back wages collected by the division.