Feds: Senate cafeteria workers will get $1 million back pay

WASHINGTON – The Labor Department says hundreds of Senate cafeteria workers will get back pay totaling more than $1 million because their private employers illegally underpaid them.

The department’s Wage and Hour Division said Tuesday that two federal contractors improperly paid the workers less than they were entitled to and made them start work before their scheduled start times without paying them. It says the companies – Restaurant Associates and its subcontractor, Personnel Plus – also didn’t pay required health and welfare benefits.

The division says that overall, 674 workers will divide $1,008,302 in back wages. It says it is still deciding whether to seek to bar the two companies from future federal contracts.

Officials at Restaurant Associates did not immediately return telephone and email messages seeking comment.