State says fair’s restroom staff was cheated
Twenty-five restroom attendants at the Erie County Fair received monetary tips from fairgoers — but they also were getting cheated by the company that hired them, the state Labor Department has announced.
Preliminary reports suggest that those 25 workers were denied a total of $25,000 that was rightfully theirs, or an average of $1,000 apiece, over an eight-day period, Labor Department officials say.
Those officials said the workers were illegally paid no wages and then forced to give back up to 50 percent of their tips to their employer, Portlock Maintenance Systems of Pennsylvania.
“Both of those practices are unacceptable and illegal in New York State,” said Ruth Pillittere, assistant communications director for the Labor Department.
New York has a $7.15 minimum hourly wage, and in certain limited cases employers may pay a lower “tipped” rate to employees who get tips. Employers, though, must pay the appropriate wage and may not demand any portion of the employees’ tips.
“Many restroom attendants at local fairs work in hot, uncomfortable conditions in the dead of summer, and it is absolutely mind-boggling to me that a company would have the audacity to avoid paying these workers at least a minimum wage,” State Labor Commissioner M. Patricia Smith stated. “Worse yet, this company saw nothing wrong with taking half of these tips back from the workers.”
The Labor Department investigation found violations at the Erie County Fair, also known as America’s Fair, and the Altamont Fair, in the Albany area. Labor Department officials also have alerted authorities at three other fairs, in the Capital and Hudson Valley regions, who now are hiring the restroom attendants as inhouse employees being paid the minimum wage.
The investigation began at the Erie County Fair.
“The department is taking a much more proactive stance on enforcement,” Pillittere said. “This investigation was part of a targeted summer sweep we were conducting at carnivals, amusement parks, fairs and traveling shows.”
Once they determine the affected employees and how much they’re owed, back to the start of 2003, the Labor Department will try to secure that back pay for them.
