On the heels of last week’s news that the owner of Jay Bharat and Standard Sweets and Snacks is paying his Artesia employees $95,000 in back wages, comes an even bigger figure out of Westchester. Following a labor department investigation, the owner of Ayara Thai has agreed to pay $162,201 to 35 workers who were sometimes paid only $45 for working a twelve-hour day, violating the eight-dollar state minimum wage and over-time laws, as well as common decency. The news, as reported by The L.A. Times, is an encouraging sign that local labor agencies are tackling the recently disclosed issue of low pay for L.A. restaurant workers, albeit one restaurant at a time, with the Labor Department’s Kimchi Bui saying, “We are determined to make sure that they and other vulnerable employees are paid proper wages.”
