A federal investigation has recovered more than $469,000 in back wages and damages after a Northern California restaurant chain’s pay practices denied 114 workers of their fully earned wages at five Bay Area locations, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division found Suleiman Fakhouri & Sons, the operator of Crepevine, did not pay employees overtime properly at its locations in Berkeley, Burlingame, Oakland, Palo Alto and San Jose. The division also learned the employer assigned minors to work later and longer than federal child labor laws permit.

In addition to the recovery of $234,636 in back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages, the department assessed $82,706 in civil money penalties for the willful nature of the employer’s violations.

The division cited Crepevine for failing to combine hours employees worked at more than one location; paying overtime hours worked in cash at straight-time rates, when time and one-half is required; failing to keep records of cash payments for overtime in its payroll records; allowing 14- and 15-year-old employees to work past 7 p.m., more than three hours on school nights and more than 18 hours on school weeks; and not keeping records for several employees and not registering their hours worked and wages due.

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