NorCal Pho chain owner ordered to pay $245K for denying cooks OT pay

16 days ago

A Northern California Vietnamese restaurant owner has been ordered to pay over $245,000 in back wages and damages for reportedly violating federal wage laws.

Key points:

Thuan Do owns four The Pho restaurants, with two in Modesto, one in Stockton and another in Manteca.
The U.S. Department of Labor said he failed to pay 10 employees required overtime and minimum wage.
Do deliberately created phony payroll records to hide their noncompliance.

The details:

According to the Department of Labor, Do violated provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act, requiring businesses to pay overtime rates after 40 hours in a workweek.
Do understood wage regulations but still chose to pay cooks flat salaries regardless of hours worked, the release said.
Do owes workers a total of $122,861 in unpaid wages and another $122,861 in damages to the employees. He is also fined $8,330 in civil money penalties for his purported “willful violations.”
“[The owner] learned that there are costly consequences for violating federal wage regulations,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Cesar Avila.

Tangent:

Do also owns a chain of Kung Fu Tea cafes, though the wage investigations were specific to The Pho restaurants.

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NorCal Pho chain owner ordered to pay $245K for denying cooks OT pay

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