San Francisco Chinatown Restaurant Pays Back Wages To Underpaid Workers
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS/AP) -- A San Francisco restaurant in Chinatown is paying $525,000 in back wages and penalties for forcing employees to work long hours for less than $4 an hour.
Employees at Dick Lee Pastry worked 11-hour days, six days a week for about $1,100 a month. The city's minimum wage when the case was filed was $9.92 an hour. It's now $10.55 an hour.
The San Francisco Chronicle reported the settlement with restaurant owners is the largest payment the city has received as it tries to protect workers from wage theft.
California estimates it loses $7 billion a year to wage theft in lost tax revenue and economic participation by low-wage workers.
San Francisco is a leader in cracking down on employers.
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