The Department of Employment and Labour says Ocean Basket needs to follow the correct channels to seek recourse if it disputed a finding by their inspectors, that they owed over R800,000 to staff in unpaid wages.
The restaurant has been told they can appeal the decision internally.
Ocean Basket has denied it owed any of their staff owed any monies, as reported by the Department of Employment and Labour in a press statement on Monday. The restaurant said it conducted its own independent investigation and found no evidence to support the allegations.
It said it relied on a commission structure to pay wages, claiming all its staff earned above the national minimum wage.
The restaurant chain told IOL this week that they were seeking a meeting with senior officials from the department to address claims that they owed staff R813,969 in unpaid wages, asking them to illustrate how they owed staff.
