Wage theft cases account for a significant portion of the information in the Good Jobs First Violation Tracker, but until recently, we were missing data from a key enforcement agency: the New York Department of Labor (NY DOL). After a protracted effort (more on this below), we received data on over 77,000 enforcement actions taken by the agency between 2013 and 2023, accounting for $434 million in penalties.
Since the data from the agency did not provide further explanation of the violations and there are no press releases on the matter, we cannot speculate exactly what happened in each of these cases, but it is likely due to some of the most common labor violations: underpayment of wages, failing to pay overtime, or misclassifying workers as exempt.
Our analysis of the data shows that most of the top offenders were fast food or casual dining restaurants. The restaurant industry in New York has paid nearly $130 million in back wages and penalties over the last decade.
The overall top recidivist was private equity firm Roark Capital — it had 37 violations totaling $740,000 in penalties. More than half of the penalty total came from just one of its portfolio companies, Dunkin’ Donuts, with the remaining violations coming from other fast food chains such as Sonic and Arby’s.
Chipotle Mexican Grill ranked second, with 76 violations and $583,000 in fines and settlements. Restaurant Brands International, which owns chains like Burger King and Popeyes, was penalized over $306,000. Wendy’s and McDonald’s have each racked up roughly $100,000.
The restaurant industry has a well-deserved reputation for its mistreatment of workers, owing in part to its vulnerable workforce. One-third of food service workers in the country are born outside of the United States, putting these employees at a greater risk for wage and hour violations given the frequent wrongdoing in the industry. New York City recently implemented a program to train migrants for foodservice jobs; this promotion of restaurant work for migrants and asylum seekers will need to be accompanied by increased protections and oversight.
Corporate fines and settlements for labor violations in the state have on average risen over the past decade. A fourth of these penalties, $109 million, were from 2023 alone—a jump of 47% from the year prior ($74 million) and over three times the total from 2021 ($32 million).
The high penalty total for 2023 was driven in part by two major cases with non-restaurant employers, Royal Care and American Business Institute, each of which settled for over $10 million. Both businesses operate as Home Health Care Agencies—the second most penalized industry in the state.
The remaining companies have far fewer violations on average, with nearly 97% of cases stemming from a single complaint at small, independent businesses.
Getting the Data
These findings come from data released by the New York Department of Labor in response to an open records request – one that Good Jobs First waited on for almost a year. We submitted the request last summer after seeing the data posted on Documented and ProPublica, media outlets which successfully sued for access. After multiple Freedom of Information Act requests to the agency and delays in processing, we finally received the data.
We applaud NY State for taking what appears to be a pro-active position in enforcing wage and hour violations, but we urge the agency to be more transparent with its practices.
Despite these shortcomings, the NY DOL is a vital player in combating wage theft and other employment violations. We hope that the New York DOL will realize the value of this to the public and will take its role in promoting transparency more seriously along with expediting an outcome for the workers often in desperate need of a just resolution.