New Jersey ordered more than two dozen Boston Market locations to close after officials found “multiple violations of workers’ rights.”
The New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development (NJDOL) announced Tuesday that 27 Boston Market locations had been issued “stop-work orders” after regulators discovered more than $600,000 in back pay wages were owed to 314 workers, according to a press release.
“With restaurants across the country, Boston Market needs to set a better example for fair treatment of its workers,” Joseph Petrecca, the Assistant Commissioner for the NJDOL’s Division of Wage and Hour and Contract Compliance, said in the press release.
Boston Market owes more than $600,000 in back wages to the employees at the stores that were ordered to close, New Jersey authorities say. https://t.co/nRVJGnAFDY
— PhillyVoice (@thephillyvoice) August 16, 2023
Officials from the NJDOL’s Division of Wage and Hour and Contract Compliance began the investigation after an employee sent a complaint about the restaurant chain to the department in November 2022 regarding workers’ rights violations, according to the press release. (RELATED: Train Company That Caused Massive Chemical Leak Slapped With Worker Safety Fines)
Since the initial complaint, roughly three dozen additional complaints have been received. Officials from the department issued citations for things such as unpaid or late payment of wages, failure to pay workers minimum wage, records violations, failing to maintain records of sick leave that employees earned and failing to pay workers for their earned sick pay, the press release noted.
The NJDOL also discovered $1,214,942 in liquidated damages. The parent company, Boston Chicken of New Jersey, was also reportedly “assessed an administrative fee of $182,241.30,” along with an administrative penalty of $549,500, per the press release.
After stop-work orders are issued, the employer has a right to appeal it, and the NJDOL will have seven days to set up a hearing. According to the press release, the fast food chain has requested a hearing.
The Daily Caller reached out to Boston Market for a statement but did not hear back by the time of publication.