Skip to content
Know Your Rights
Source: Metro
Subject: Workplace Justice
Type: Media Coverage

Restaurant Coughs Up OT Pay

Owners of
the popular Upper East Side eatery, Trattoria
Pesce Pasta, agreed to pay nearly $137,000 in back wages to restaurant workers,
Department of Labor officials announced yesterday.

The state
agency investigated after workers protested in front of the restaurant in
December with community group Make the Road New York. One of the protesting workers,
Rodrigo Vazquez, worked 13 hours a day, six days a week in the kitchen, but was
never paid overtime. He finally left the job a year ago after 12 years there.
He hadn’t realized he was owed money until he joined Make the
Road
and learned
about workers’ rights, Vazquez said.

The
restaurant owes Vazquez $23,000 in back wages. The restaurant has so far paid
workers $60,000, according to DOL officials.

A worker
who answered the phone at the eatery said nothing had been missing from his pay
checks. No one from restaurant management was available to comment.