The US Department of Labor found that employees were being paid as little as $1.19 per hour as a cash wage, which forced them to rely on tips for their income.
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — A popular Triad pizza chain is accused of underpaying its workers.
The U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division said Cugino Forno denied full wages to 63 workers at its Clemmons, Greensboro, and Winston-Salem restaurants.
The investigation began at the Winston-Salem location back in July 2019. A few months later, the DOL began investigating the Greensboro restaurant in December 2019, and then the Clemmons restaurant in October 2020.
The department said the pizza place paid workers as little as $1.19 an hour, forcing them to rely almost entirely on tips.
Investigators also found that Cugino Forno failed to pay the required overtime rate.
The Labor Department recovered $276,000 in back wages for the affected workers.
The Labor Department said Cugino Forno agreed to comply with the law moving forward and all back wages have been paid to impacted workers.
WFMY News 2's Jenna Kurzyna spoke with one of the owners of Cugino Forno, Joseph Ozbey, on Friday. He said this situation was a big misunderstanding.
"The only change that happened that we had to explain to people is OK before we used to promise them that amount of money, and then this is what we were paying them. Now, we have to say OK, this is how we're paying from now on, that by the law that we're gonna be paying you "X" amount of...
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