Pizza Place Workers are Entitled to Overtime Pay

Pizza place workers are often cheated out of their overtime wages. The law requires that employers pay pizza place workers, including cooks, dishwasher, pizzamakers, busboys, servers, counter persons, and delivery people, at time and a half for each hour they work over 40 per week.

• If you work more than 40 hours per week and are being paid a weekly salary, then you are being cheated out of your overtime pay.
• If you are paid a day rate and work over 40 hours per week, then you are being cheated out of your overtime pay.
• If you are paid at the same regular hourly rate for hours worked over 40 per week, then you are being cheated out of your overtime pay.

Pechman Law Group has represented hundreds of restaurant workers throughout New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut, and has recovered millions of dollars for restaurant workers. We recently recovered $60,000 for a delivery worker at La Familia restaurant in Weschester County who was not paid minimum wage (now $15 per hour) and was not paid overtime for hours worked over 40 in a workweek.

In previous cases, Pechman Law Group recovered $120,000 for a cook at 10th Avenue Pizza in Manhattan as well as $85,000 for three cooks at a pizzeria in Queens. In each of the cases, the cooks were working far more than 40 hours per week (some weeks saw them working up to 98 hours) and were receiving a weekly salary. This pay practice resulted in unpaid overtime wages, as the salary did not properly compensate them for the overtime hours or spread-of-hours pay.

The attorneys at Pechman Law Group represented delivery persons, busboys, counterpersons, and dishwashers at Mimi’s Pizza on the Upper East Side where they recovered $400,000 for the restaurant workers. Workers at the pizza place were earning a shift pay, while sometimes working up to 72 hours per week. The pay the workers received did not properly compensate them for the overtime hours they worked and often fell below the statutory minimum wage rate.

Brooklyn’s acclaimed L&B Spumoni Gardens also settled a lawsuit brought by Pechman Law Group on behalf of a former cook for $50,000 for unpaid overtime. Throughout his 12-year employment, the cook was paid at straight-time rates for his overtime hours, despite working up to 65 hours per week.

You are entitled to be paid in accordance with the law, regardless of your immigration status. Many undocumented workers and recent immigrants are afraid to pursue their rights because they are afraid of immigration issues, but the law protects you against wage theft.

Pechman Law Group has a team of dedicated attorneys who can help you recover money if you are a victim of wage theft. If you believe that you have not been paid the correct overtime wages or are being cheated out of your overtime pay, please call our office at 212-583-9500.