St. Petersburg hotel owner Michael Andoniades was ordered to pay $23,368 in back pay and liquid damages to 30 employees, after authorities with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division discovered his properties were violating overtime and record-keeping provisions.
The investigation found that Andoniades, who owns five St. Pete hotel properties, failed to combine employee’s hours when they transferred between different hotels, which resulted in numerous overtime violations when their hours went over 40 in a single workweek.
The investigation also found that the company incorrectly classified a salaried maintenance worker as exempt from overtime laws, and then failed to pay the employee overtime wages.
The five St. Petersburg hotels involved in the investigation include:
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Hollander Hotel, 421 4th Ave. North;
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Avalon Hotel LLC, 443 4th Ave. North;
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Bay Plaza Hotel, 419 3rd Ave. North;
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Mari Jean Hotel LLC, 2349 Central Ave.; and
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Lenox Hotel LLC, 325 6th Ave. North.
“Owners at establishments that share employees do not have the right to treat each establishment as separate from the others when determining an employee’s total hours and the wages that worker is rightfully due,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director James Schmidt, in Tampa, Florida. “The Wage and Hour Division is readily available to assist employers and employees in understanding their obligations and rights under the law.”
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