N.J. — Carlos Robles, an employee of a group of Houlihan’s restaurants in New Jersey owned by ACE Restaurant Group, Inc., filed a wage suit alleging that the restaurant violated the New Jersey Wage and Hour Law by failing to pay him overtime. The suit proposes a collective class including all those who worked or work at Houlihan’s Restaurants as non-exempt hourly employees and who were subject to the unlawful policies of the company in New Jersey within the last six years. This may mean that the number of potential class members is around 1,000.
ACE Restaurant Group has been hit with multiple wage suits in recent years. The U.S. Department of Labor sued ACE last year for pervasive skimming from employees’ tips and wages. Additionally, ACE was sued by another group of servers who claimed that they were paid less than the minimum wage and required them to take part in a tip-pooling policy that is unfairly distributed.
Failure to Aggregate Hours
The plaintiff in this case worked as a cook at two Houlihan’s locations in New Jersey. According to Robles, he regularly worked more than fifty hours per week working at those two restaurants. However, the company failed to aggregate the time worked by Robles at both restaurants for the purpose of determining whether overtime pay was required. Therefore, Robles claimed that the company failed to pay him at least one and one-half times his regular rate for all hours worked over forty hours in a workweek.
Additionally, Robles claims that his employer deducted meals from his wages. According to the suit, the amount of those deductions exceeded the cost of providing the meals.
Joint Employers and Multiple Sites
Joint employers are required to aggregate hours worked by an employee at different work sites when calculating the overtime compensation due to that employee. Joint employment refers to a condition in which one individual stands in the relation of an employee to two or more entities at the same time. If the facts establish that two or more employers are not completely disassociated with respect to the employment of a particular employee, then it is likely that a joint employment situation exists. When an employee’s work benefits two or more worksites, then all the hours worked must be aggregated for the purpose of determining overtime.
If you or someone you know works for a joint employer, and work hours are not calculated properly for the purpose of overtime, you should call (855) 754-2795 or complete the Free Unpaid Overtime Case Review form on the top right of this page. Our top-rated team of wage lawyers will evaluate your situation to determine your best course of action. We will also determine if it is in your best interest to file a lawsuit against your employer. There are strict time limitations for filing, so it is important that you call our experienced attorneys today.