Massage firm at malls to give worker back pay

Oriental Chi, a chair massage business, agreed to pay an employee $767 after a state investigation found it had violated the minimum-wage law.

Steven Chen, Oriental Chi’s owner, said the employee was a trainee and had agreed to accept a lower wage. However, under state law, employees can’t waive their right to minimum wage, said Randall Maruca, director of the state Labor Department.

Chen said his therapists are paid on commission, and most make more than minimum wage.

“We have been complying with the minimum-wage law,” he said.

The complaint against Oriental Chi was first filed in November 2007 as a wage claim, which is filed when an employee believes he hasn’t been compensated for time worked, Maruca said. That claim was dismissed, and the minimum-wage claim was filed in April, Maruca said.

The complaint was resolved in June after an investigation found Oriental Chi had violated the state’s minimum-wage law.
The employee, whose name was not released because of state law, had been paid too little for about three months, and Oriental Chi agreed to pay the back wages, Maruca said. No further action against Oriental Chi was taken, Maruca said.

Oriental Chi also is working to get state licenses for its therapists, Chen said.
Oriental Chi’s workers had performed quick chair massages without massage licenses in local malls. In a Star story published in November, Chen said his workers were technically not performing massages but less intensive “energy work,” which does not require a license in Arizona.

A state board told Oriental Chi that it no longer could give massages until its therapists have state licenses.
In the meantime, Chen said, Oriental Chi’s therapists have been performing reflexology, which involves pressure areas on the hands and feet.

Oriental Chi has operated at Park Place, Tucson Mall, Foothills Mall and the Mall at Sierra Vista. The business has a total of 10 locations in Arizona, California and Colorado, and is expanding to Texas and Georgia, Chen said.

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