Local Bagel Shop In Trouble With Dept. of Labor Over Unpaid Overtime

Spread Bagelry was recently under fire from the federal government, reports Philly Mag. The U.S. Department of Labor filed a complaint against the Montreal-style bagel shop — which has two city locations — and its owners, saying that the company owed $186,292 in back pay and damages to dozens of employees.

The DOL said that Spread failed to pay its employees the correct overtime pay — which is time-and-a-half, for hours over 40 worked in a week. According to the complaint, one employee was owed more than $23,000; more than six employees were owed over $10K.

Spread has agreed to pay some of the employees $102,000 over the next five months — which includes damages and interest and will settle the complaint — and to “follow all labor laws going forward.” The bagel company is also prohibited from retaliating against employees who may have reported them to the government for overtime noncompliance, or who might do just that sometime in the future.

Spread, in a statement to Philly Mag, said that while the issue was resolved, they “disputed many of the DOL’s allegations.” No further specifics were given.