State:
August 23, 2011
Restaurant Owners Forced Workers to Return Paychecks, Only Keep Tips

Two restaurants in Jacksonville Florida and their owners have been ordered to pay $934,425 in back wages and liquidated damages under the terms of consent judgments. The agreements resolve a U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) lawsuit that alleged violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act’s (FLSA) minimum wage, overtime pay and record-keeping provisions.

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The consent judgments follow Wage and Hour Department (WHD) investigations into two La Nopalera restraunts. Investigators found that kitchen employees were improperly classified as exempt from FLSA overtime pay provisions and consequently paid salaries that did not include compensation for hours worked over 40 in a week.

Furthermore, tipped employees would receive their tips plus a paycheck, however, management required the employees to sign and return the paychecks, allowing the employees only to keep their tips.

The 30 employees will receive $584,425 in back wages and an additional $350,000 in liquidated damages. The restaurants will be allowed to make the payments in installments over 13 months, which the WHD will distribute to workers. Other La Nopalera restaurants located in Florida and Georgia were not part of the investigation.

The Wage and Hour Division has several ongoing enforcement initiatives throughout the nation to address similar noncompliance issues that are common in the restaurant and other industries.

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