WAGE THEFT
Newport News-based Jose Tequilas ordered to pay overtime to 97 workers

Andrea Castillo/Daily Press/TNS

Dave Ress, Daily Press
Tue, April 12, 2022

The Newport News-based Jose Tequilas Mexican Grill and Bar chain must pay back overtime pay to 97 workers at its seven locations, most of which are in Hampton Roads, the U.S. Department of Labor ordered.

They are to receive a total of $176,276.71 in back pay.

The Richmond district office of the department’s Wage and Hour Division found the company had not paid those workers the time-and-one-half hourly rate when they worked more than 40 hours a week. It also found the company did not maintain required records, in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

One of the company’s owners said the problem involved equipment that was improperly counting hours worked

“It’s all been resolved,” and the company has paid the overtime, he said. He declined to give his name.

The seven restaurants involved are the Jose Tequilas Mexican Grill & Bar at 615 Thimble Shoals, Newport News; 2052 Lynnhaven Parkway, Virginia Beach; 2101 McComas Way, Virginia Beach; 205 Bypass Road, Williamsburg; 1108 Little Creek Road, Norfolk, and a location in Owings Mills, Maryland. Senor Fox Mexican Restaurant at 1080 Nimmo Parkway, Virginia Beach, was also involved.

“Food service employees are entitled to the essential protections provided by the Fair Labor Standards Act,” said Roberto Melendez, Richmond district director of Wage and Hour division.

“As restaurants struggle to find and keep the workers they need to remain competitive, they must remember that retaining and recruiting workers is harder for employers who fail to respect workers’ rights and violate labor laws,” he said.

More than 900,000 people have left jobs in restaurants and hotel businesses every month since August 2021, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports. Its reports do not say how many moved on to other restaurant jobs or found work in other industries.