U.S. Department of Labor issued the following announcement on Sept. 14.
After an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD), an enterprise operating three San Antonio, Texas, area restaurants has paid $71,899 in back wages to 327 employees to resolve violations of the tip-pooling requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).
The WHD investigation found that Boerne Longhorn Cafe LLC, doing business as Longhorn Café Boerne; Big Juicy Inc., doing business as Longhorn Café Blanco; and Longhorn Cafe Series LLC, doing business as Longhorn Café Leasing violated the tipped worker requirements of the FLSA by allowing tips to be improperly diverted to managers and administrative staff. The law prohibits those employees from participating in a tip-pooling arrangement.
“Employees must be paid all the wages they have legally earned including tips acquired through an employer’s tip-pool practice,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Cynthia Ramos, in San Antonio, Texas. “The Wage and Hour Division encourages other employers in this industry to review their own pay practices to ensure they comply with the law, and to reach out to us with any questions they may have about their responsibilities. Workers, too, can call us confidentially with any questions or concerns about their employment.”
The Department offers numerous resources to ensure employers have the tools they need to understand their responsibilities and to comply with federal law, such as online videos and confidential calls.
Original source can be found here.