![[US] DOL makes restaurant repay $262,000 tips staff were forced to share](http://gpa.net/cdn/shop/articles/bigstock-Washington-Dc--Apr------417574810_1_1200x.jpg?v=1684296370)
In the US, a Florida sushi restaurant has repaid $262,000 to staff following a federal investigation which uncovered a number of labour law violations, including compelling servers to share tips with superiors, Yahoo News reports.
In a press release, the US Department of Labor (DOL) stated that Ginza Japanese Restaurant in Fort Myers, Florida, had made its 75 servers share their tips with the restaurant’s chefs, owners, and managers.
Under the US Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), employers are not permitted to require workers to share their tips with supervisors, managers and business owners.
The DOL reportedly said that Ginza's practice invalidated its tip pool. Under the Act, employers who claim a tip credit to top-up servers' wages must allow them to keep their own tips unless the company has a tip pooling arrangement "limited to employees who customarily and regularly receive tips."
In addition, an investigation by the DOL's Wage and Hour Division revealed that the restaurant was unable to account for $22,000 in tips it had withheld and had no records to prove those tips were paid to servers or any other employee.
Employers who take a tip credit are required by the FLSA to keep records of how much servers receive in tips and how much they take home.
The restaurant had also failed to pay correct wages to dual-occupation workers with two separate roles at the company, the DOL said.
The DOL reportedly recovered $262,322 in back wages and liquidated damages for workers affected by the FLSA violations.
Ginza did not respond to a request for comment from Insider, however, manager Joshua Salinas told The Fort Myers News-Press that the situation in question happened a year and a half ago and was "all cleared up now."
Nicolas Ratmiroff - the Wage and Hour Division's district director for Tampa, Florida - said in a statement, "Tips are the property of the employees who earn them. No employer has the right to keep any tips unless they are given directly to the manager who directly serves a customer."
Source: Yahoo News
(Links and quotes via original reporting)
In the US, a Florida sushi restaurant has repaid $262,000 to staff following a federal investigation which uncovered a number of labour law violations, including compelling servers to share tips with superiors, Yahoo News reports.
In a press release, the US Department of Labor (DOL) stated that Ginza Japanese Restaurant in Fort Myers, Florida, had made its 75 servers share their tips with the restaurant’s chefs, owners, and managers.
Under the US Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), employers are not permitted to require workers to share their tips with supervisors, managers and business owners.
The DOL reportedly said that Ginza's practice invalidated its tip pool. Under the Act, employers who claim a tip credit to top-up servers' wages must allow them to keep their own tips unless the company has a tip pooling arrangement "limited to employees who customarily and regularly receive tips."
In addition, an investigation by the DOL's Wage and Hour Division revealed that the restaurant was unable to account for $22,000 in tips it had withheld and had no records to prove those tips were paid to servers or any other employee.
Employers who take a tip credit are required by the FLSA to keep records of how much servers receive in tips and how much they take home.
The restaurant had also failed to pay correct wages to dual-occupation workers with two separate roles at the company, the DOL said.
The DOL reportedly recovered $262,322 in back wages and liquidated damages for workers affected by the FLSA violations.
Ginza did not respond to a request for comment from Insider, however, manager Joshua Salinas told The Fort Myers News-Press that the situation in question happened a year and a half ago and was "all cleared up now."
Nicolas Ratmiroff - the Wage and Hour Division's district director for Tampa, Florida - said in a statement, "Tips are the property of the employees who earn them. No employer has the right to keep any tips unless they are given directly to the manager who directly serves a customer."
Source: Yahoo News
(Links and quotes via original reporting)
