Montco Fast Food Owner Must Pay Back Employees $93K In Wages

ELKINS PARK, PA — The Montgomery County owner of a local fast food chain must pay its employees tens of thousands of dollars in unpaid wages, officials said this week.

Elkins Park-based SM Choi Inc., which operates four fast food establishments in the area, owes a total of $93,146 in back wages, a U.S. Department of Labor investigation determined. Furthermore, the company must also pay the same amount, $93,146, in liquidated damages, as well as $26,121 in fines.

The fast food chains — Waker Chicken, Ming, Jing, and Joa were located next to each other inside the More Shopping Center food court, located on 7320 Old York Road.

Officials said that cashiers and cooks were paid flat salaries in cash which did not reflect the number of hours they worked.

"SM Choi Inc. employees worked five to six days per week, for an average of 10 hours per day, and were denied the wages they rightfully earned," Wage and Hour Division District Office Director James Cain, in Philadelphia, said in a statement. "This enforcement action and consent judgment will help to ensure that workers are paid the wages they are legally owed and that employers in the restaurant industry operate on a level playing field."

It's the company second such violation. The company engaged in similar practices in 2016, a Department of Labor investigation at the time discovered.

The company also failed to maintain records of the hours worked by employees. Such records are required by law.

If you think you've been victimized by wage theft, call 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243).

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