D.C. Attorney General Brian L. Schwalb said Thursday that three companies operating in the city have been penalized for violating worker protection laws that deprived employees of overtime pay, timely final paychecks, and benefits including paid sick leave and paid family leave.
Fetch Package Inc., Potomac Foods Company and Food Works Group, LLC will pay over $150,000 to affected workers and $77,000 to the city to resolve the allegations.
The attorney general alleged that Fetch misclassified 10 delivery drivers as independent contractors, denying them sick leave benefits and compensation they were owed under the District’s employment law.
Potomac Foods, which operated a Burger King restaurant on Connecticut Avenue in Northwest until December 2022, failed to promptly pay workers their final paychecks after closing and failed to consistently pay an overtime premium to eligible workers from 2020 to 2022, Schwalb’s office said.
D.C. law requires employers to pay terminated employees their final paychecks within 24 hours or the next business day.
In February, the attorney general’s office began investigating Food Works Group for allegedly misclassifying employees as independent contractors, failing to provide paid sick leave and Universal Paid Leave benefits, retaliating against a worker who made a complaint about the misclassification and discriminating against a pregnant worker in violation of the city’s Human Rights Act.
Under the terms of the settlements:
- Fetch will pay over $100,000 to affected delivery drivers, pay over $50,000 to the District, begin classifying all eligible workers correctly, and submit an annual report to the District regarding the company’s compliance with D.C. law.
- Potomac Foods will pay $24,020.76 to affected workers and $22,500 to the District. The company is also required to submit annual reports for 2024 and for any future D.C. locations.
- Food Works Group will pay $28,000 to current and former employees who were affected, pay $5,000 to the District, correct business practices to come into compliance with the District’s labor laws and Human Rights Act, and provide written certification of compliance to OAG.