April - June 2021
Luigi's Italian Eatery, a small Italian restaurant with two locations in Seattle, settled allegations under the Paid Sick and Safe Time (PSST) and Wage Theft ordinances. OLS alleged the company failed to provide any of its employees with PSST and failed to pay overtime and failed to give rest breaks to some employees. The total financial remedy was $13,738.71 to 25 affected workers.
JOEY Kitchen, a restaurant chain operating in the U.S. and Canada with one Seattle location in University Village that employs approximately 50 employees, settled allegations under the PSST, Minimum Wage, and Wage Theft ordinances. OLS alleged the company failed to pay some employees minimum wage (and therefore also failed to pay some employees the correct overtime rate); impermissibly allowed managers to participate in the tip pool; failed to provide servers with rest breaks; required servers to clock out before completing their cash remit; and failed to have a compliant PSST policy. The total financial remedy was $325,961.58 to 350 affected workers.
OLS issued a determination of a violation against Premier Roofing Services LLC (collectively, "Premier Roofing") for violations of the PSST ordinance. OLS found Premier Roofing, a re-roofing contractor based in Kirkland that operates throughout the region and employs approximately 20 employees at a given time, completely failed to provide employees with any PSST. Specifically, the company failed to provide PSST accrual, failed to allow employees to use PSST, failed to provide employees with notifications of PSST balances, and failed to have a written PSST policy. The total financial remedy was $22,303.10 to 13 affected employees and $21,697.80 to the City of Seattle.
DoorDash, Inc., a large food delivery network company with over 250 Seattle gig workers, settled allegations under the Gig Worker Paid Sick and Safe Time Ordinance. OLS alleged the company, as a successor to a previous hiring entity, failed to accurately credit some workers with PSST days from the previous hiring entity and/or failed to provide accurate notice of the average daily compensation rate. The total financial remedy was $15,504.31 to ten workers. In addition, after OLS initiated its investigation, DoorDash agreed to voluntarily pay out all remaining unused accrued PSST days to workers who worked for the previous hiring entity. A total of $144,931.63 was assessed to 891 workers.
OLS issued a determination of a violation against Kells Irish Restaurant and Bar (collectively, "Kells") for violations of the PSST, Minimum Wage, and Wage theft ordinances. OLS found Kells, a restaurant and bar with one location in Seattle and currently less than 10 employees, failed to provide employees with PSST, failed to pay employees minimum wage in some instances, and sometimes failed to pay employees on a regular payday. The total financial remedy was $36,603.40 to 105 affected employees and $21,265.20 to the City of Seattle.
Compass Group USA dba Bon Appetit, Eurest, Wolfgang Puck Catering, Chartwells, and Levy ("Compass"), a multinational food service company with hundreds of thousands of employees worldwide that operates 18 locations in Seattle, settled allegations under the PSST and Secure Scheduling ordinances. OLS alleged Compass employees were unable to access their PSST balances while business operations were suspended due to health and safety reasons, and that Compass failed to provide pay for schedule changes in the weeks leading up to the company's suspension of business operations. The total financial remedy was $663,725.38, which included $663,169.08 to 622 affected workers and $556.30 to the City of Seattle.
Following an informal OLS inquiry into compliance with the Grocery Employee Hazard Pay Ordinance, Safeway, Inc. which offers grocery delivery services from two of its Seattle locations, voluntarily paid 20 delivery drivers hazard pay for full shifts worked at a retail location. The total financial remedy was $3,060.45.
Amante Pizza & Pasta and Luciano's Pizza & Pasta, restaurants that each operate one location in Seattle and collectively employ approximately 50 Seattle employees, settled allegations under the PSST and Wage Theft ordinances. OLS alleged the companies failed to provide employees with PSST, failed to provide some employees rest breaks, and failed to pay some employees promised wages, pay overtime, and minimum wage. OLS also alleged the companies retaliated against one employee by terminating her employment for exercising her rights under the PSST ordinance. The total financial remedy was $97,588.95, which included $96,237.24 to 48 affected employees and $245.72 to the City of Seattle.