Food company Thyme Food Services – which owns three deli cafes throughout New Jersey – will have to provide $111,000 in back pay to 42 employees who were cheated out of wages, according to a Wednesday statement from the Department of Labor and Workforce Development.
The announcement comes a day after Acting Gov. Sheila Oliver signed a measure ramping up protections for workers who believe they were victims of wage theft. Employers found guilty of the practice will now face tougher penalties under the new law.
Oliver
Thyme, which operates cafes in Moonachie, Secaucus and Edison, will also have to pay $11,060.34 in fees and $20,000 in penalties, according to the DOL.
The owners allegedly did not pay employees overtime for working more than 40 hours a week, and in several cases paid their workers some of their wages off the books, the DOL said.
“When New Jersey workers are denied overtime or paid off the books, they are deprived of fair wages,” Labor Commissioner Robert Asaro-Angelo said Wednesday in a statement. “Our society improves when employers play by the rules and treat every employee fairly.”
Employees for Thyme would not comment on the statement from the DOL or the nature of the allegations.
