CALIFORNIA – Fast food industry jobs are common among new immigrants in the United States, especially those with limited English skills.
An alarming case is that of Khadengra Subedi, a Nepalese father of two, who took a job at Subway to support his family. However, in the nine months he worked there, he never received a paycheck.
He was paid $14 per hour in cash, and some months those payments were late. Subedi worked 10-hour shifts without breaks, not even for the bathroom, unaware of his labor rights.
The California Labor Commissioner’s Office is investigating the franchise where Subedi worked, along with six other Subway locations owned by the same proprietors, for multiple violations of labor laws.
Many workers report labor violations, such as being paid less than San Francisco’s minimum wage of $18.67 per hour or not being paid at all. Previous lawsuits and investigations have revealed a pattern of abuse towards immigrant workers in Subway franchises across the country.
Subedi’s case came to light when one of the workers contacted Workers United, a San Francisco-based union. The organization, along with Legal Aid at Work, has filed complaints on behalf of 10 workers, estimating that 25 have been affected in the past three years.
The seven Subway restaurants in question are owned by Christopher Van Buren and Marta Gebreslasie, who manage the franchises through two joint businesses.
Workers United and Legal Aid at Work claim that most of the employees hired were immigrants and that some were paid in cash below the minimum wage.
In May, the California Labor Commissioner’s Office issued a notice to Van Buren and Gebreslasie to cease their illegal labor practices, including paying less than the state and local minimum wage. The investigation is ongoing, and it is unclear if any changes have been made since the notice was issued.
Employees identified Shila Acharya Thapa as the franchise manager, accusing her of hiring immigrants with limited English skills to exploit them. Subedi and another former employee, Monica Ramirez, recounted how Thapa manipulated their schedules and instructed them to lie about their wages.
Ramirez even caught Thapa altering her time sheet to make it appear she had clocked out earlier than she actually had.
Living on $14 per hour for nine months was a challenge for Subedi, who had to borrow money to survive. Ramirez, on the other hand, left her job at Subway after facing non-payment and aggression from the owners.
Despite having found better jobs with fair wages and benefits, both fear for those still working in the franchises and the thousands of others across the country.
