A Mission Valley sushi restaurant must pay two employees nearly $30,000 after an investigation into the restaurant's operations found they violated overtime labor laws.
Onami Seafood Buffet, located at Westfield Mission Valley, did not pay two cooks for the nearly 12 hours a week of overtime hours they put into the restaurant, a U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) investigation found.
Instead, the restaurant paid a flat rate to the two employees, who no longer work for Onami, in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act.
In all, the employees worked 1,887 hours, or more than 11 weeks, without receiving proper overtime wages, a DOL spokesperson said.
The restaurant's corporation, O-Fire Corp., was ordered to pay the two employees $29,992 in back wages and liquidated damages. The amount will be split between the two former employees.
The DOL said it is up to the employer, not the employee, to keep track of the number of hours each of their employees actually works and accurately keep records of those hours.
O-Fire Corp. has not faced any previous violations by the DOL's Wage and Hour Division, the spokesperson said.
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The DOL did not provide details about what prompted the investigation into Onami Seafood Buffet but said many of their investigations are initiated by complaints, which are kept confidential.
