Teen workers were tasked with delivering pizzas, feds say. Now Texas company fined

A Texas-based pizzeria tasked minors with delivering pizzas, one of several violations found by federal investigators, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

The company also denied overtime pay from 14 employees at several stores, failed to keep accurate time records and allowed teens to work too many hours during school weeks, according to a Sept. 8 news release.

Now Yaghi Enterprises, Inc., which operates as Yaghi’s New York Pizzeria, has been fined $17,226 in civil money penalties. That’s in addition to $90,127 in overtime back wages recovered by the government.

“Our investigation found that Yaghi Enterprises, Inc. denied overtime wages to 14 workers and took the safety and well-being of minor-aged workers for granted,” Wage and Hour Division District Director Nicole Sellers said in a statement. “As a result, the employer faces costly consequences that they could have avoided by contacting the Department of Labor to ensure compliance with the law.”

Yaghi Enterprises, Inc. did not immediately respond to a request for comment from McClatchy News on Sept. 8.

The Fair Labor Standards Act says no employees under age 18 may drive to make “time sensitive deliveries,” including pizza deliveries. Teens under 16 are also prohibited from working more than 18 hours each school week.

Employers are required to pay overtime when non-exempt employees work over 40 hours in a work week.

“Employers who violate workers’ rights to be paid their full wages and who fail to provide a safe work environment will be held legally accountable,” Sellers said.

The Labor Department investigation included Yaghi’s New York Pizzeria locations in Austin, Cedar Park, Georgetown and San Antonio.

This story was originally published September 8, 2022 at 10:30 AM with the headline "Teen workers were tasked with delivering pizzas, feds say. Now Texas company fined."