Commonly asked overtime pay law questions about Benihana:
- What is Benihana?
- Who Does Benihana Employ?
- Where is Benihana Located?
- Benihana Overtime Pay Lawsuit News
- What are the Laws for Benihana Employee Overtime Pay?
- Is a Benihana Employee Entitled to Overtime Pay?
- Does Benihana Have to Pay Overtime Wages to its Employees?
- Has Benihana Been Involved in Overtime Pay Lawsuits?
- Benihana Overtime Pay Lawyer Review
What is Benihana?
Benihana is an American chain of Japanese cuisine restaurants. The company was founded in 1964 in New York City and today operates or franchises 116 additional locations throughout the United States.
The chain employs over 5,000 employees and is headquartered in Doral, Florida.
Who Does Benihana Employ?
Benihana employs over 5,000 people. Our experienced overtime pay lawyers handle cases for all Benihana employees, including the following:
- Cooks
- Food preparers
- Cashiers
- Waiters
- Waitresses
- Bussers
- Hosts
- Hostesses
- Managers
- Assistant managers
Where is Benihana Located?
Benihana’s corporate headquarters is located in Doral, Florida. The company has expanded to have restaurants throughout the United States. Some of the U.S. locations include:
- Atlanta, Georgia
- Chicago, Illinois
- Columbus, Ohio
- Dallas, Texas
- Indianapolis, Indiana
- Las Vegas, Nevada
- Minneapolis, Minnesota
- New York, New York
- Orlando, Florida
- Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- San Francisco, California
Benihana Overtime Pay Lawsuit News
What are the Laws for Benihana Employee Overtime Pay?
Under the Fair Labor Standard Act (FLSA), many Benihana employees are considered non-exempt and therefore entitled to overtime pay.
If an employee is non-exempt under the FLSA, the law requires that they are paid overtime wages of one and one-half times their regular rate of pay for every hour past 40 in one week.
The FLSA has several exemptions, however, that would preclude employees from receiving overtime pay. For example, employees with “adminstrative” or “professional” roles may fall under these exemptions.
It is important to note that exemption is not determined solely based on job title. Rather, job description, job duties, rate of pay, and hours worked are used to determine if an employee should receive overtime pay.
On top of the FLSA, some states have their own overtime pay laws. These laws may complement or contradict the FLSA, so it is important to consult an experienced attorney who is familiar with all the applicable overtime pay laws.
Is a Benihana Employee Entitled to Overtime Pay?
Benihana employees are often required to work long shifts, as well as additional time before and after their scheduled shift. As a result, many Benihana employees end up working more than 40 hours per week, and are therefore entitled to overtime pay.
Employees who are exempt under the FLSA are not entitled to overtime pay. Whether or not a Benihana employee falls under the “administrative” or “professional” exemptions is determine based on job description, job duties, rate of pay, and number of hours worked.
Employers often deny or unlawfully refuse to pay overtime by misclassifying the positions of the workers, claiming that they are exempt when, in reality, they are not. For example, Benihana assistant managers could be classified as exempt based on their “manager” title, when in reality, their job duties reflect a non-exempt position. This misclassification would prevent these workers from receiving all the wages they are due.
Benihana may also require their employees to report to work early but not “punch the clock” until later or strike hours off of time cards, or they may refuse to pay employees for work done before the shift starts and after they punch out for the day. These are violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and can give rise to an overtime pay lawsuit.
An experienced overtime pay attorney will be able to analyze your case in the context of the FLSA and your state’s laws to determine if you are due overtime wages from Benihana.
Does Benihana Have to Pay Overtime Wages to its Employees?
In many cases Benihana is required to pay overtime wages to employees that work more than 40 hours in one week. This excludes employees who are considered exempt under the FLSA.
Exemption is not cut and dry; the FLSA is a complicated law and state laws can complicate the picture even further.
If you believe that Benihana owes you overtime pay, it is best to consult an attorney who has experience with the FLSA and state overtime wage laws.
To determine whether you are eligible for filing a wage claim, contact our experienced Benihana Overtime Pay Lawyers at (855) 754-2795 for a Free Consultation to discuss your case or complete the Free Unpaid Overtime Case Review Form on this page. We will discuss your situation and determine if you have a claim. If you are owed unpaid wages, we will represent you under our No Fee Promise, which means there are never any legal fees or costs unless you receive a settlement.
Has Benihana Been Involved in Overtime Pay Lawsuits?
Over the past several years, current or former employees have brought a number of lawsuits against restaurants like Benihana in an effort to reclaim lost overtime wages. If you believe that Benihana is denying you overtime wages, you could have a case similar to that of a previous lawsuit. Here are a few examples of such lawsuits:
- Brinker International, Inc. (Brinker), a Dallas corporation, which owns and operates over 800 Chili’s Grill & Bar restaurants, is facing a serious wage and hour lawsuit that alleges violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and other state wage and hour laws. At issue, is Brinker’s policy of requiring servers to share their tips with expos. Brinker utilizes a tip credit to satisfy their minimum wage obligations to their servers; however, then requires that the servers share those tips with Expos, who have very minimal customer interaction.
- Two waitresses at a Texas Roadhouse restaurant in Columbia, South Carolina received a for themselves and other similarly situated employees employed by the chain in the amount of $700,000. The waitresses alleged their employer required them to participate in an illegal tip-sharing pool. Although the law does permit employers to require tip pooling, the employers may not require tipped employees to share tips with other restaurant workers who do not “customarily and regularly receive tips.”
- In 2016, a class action lawsuit on behalf of Red Robin hourly servers was filed alleging that tipped workers were required to take part in a tipping pool with non-tipped employees. These allegations include a complaint that servers were forced to share 1% of their gross sales with non-tipped employees at the end of shifts.
Benihana Overtime Pay Lawyer Review
