Representatives of the NYS Department of Labor (NYS DOL) went in teams of three and "visited" 24 businesses, mostly restaurants and pizzerias, on Fifth and Seventh Avenues last week.
According one Fifth Avenue merchant, the NYS DOL representatives, in some cases, separated the owner or manager from the workers, coraled workers and questioned them about labor practices.
In one busy restaurant, representatives literally followed front-of-the house employees around in full view of
customers and asked them questions. In the kitchen they stood there
asking questions while cooks were trying to get the food out.
In the case of one small shop, where there were workers without docs, the owner is being fined $3,000 per person for not
having workers comp and DBL.
Another establishment was asked for three years
of records. When they told the NYS DOL that they had a fire recently, they were told to produce six years of records.