Tampa, Florida, Restaurant Pays $70,575 in Back Wages After U.S. Department of Labor Investigation Uncovers Wage Violations

TAMPA, FL – After an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD), Brewland Development LLC – a Tampa, Florida, restaurant – has paid $70,575 in back wages to 36 employees to resolve minimum wage and overtime violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

WHD investigators found Brewland Development LLC – operating as Tampa Bay Brewing Co. – violated the FLSA when the employer illegally included managers in the restaurant’s tip sharing arrangement. By doing so, the employer was ineligible to take credit for servers’ tips toward employees’ wages and required to make retroactive payment of the full federal minimum wage to those workers. Brewland Development also incorrectly classified one manager as exempt from overtime, when the worker did not meet the legal requirements for an exemption. By doing so, the employer failed to pay overtime when the employee worked more than 40 hours in a workweek.

“The Fair Labor Standards Act permits the employers of certain tipped employees to use those tips as a credit towards the employee’s wages. Employers may use this “tip credit” only if they meet all the legal requirements,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Nicolas Ratmiroff, in Tampa, Florida. “Our goal is to ensure that employers have all the information they need to understand their responsibilities and comply with the law. We encourage employers or workers with questions to call our offices and speak confidentially with a trained wage and hour professional.”

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 to local WHD offices.

For more information about the FLSA and other laws enforced by the Wage and Hour Division, contact the toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Employers that discover overtime or minimum wage violations may self-report and resolve those violations without litigation through the PAID program. Information is also available at https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd.

WHD’s mission is to promote and achieve compliance with labor standards to protect and enhance the welfare of the nation’s workforce. WHD enforces federal minimum wage, overtime pay, recordkeeping and child labor requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act. WHD also enforces the paid sick leave and expanded family and medical leave requirements of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act, the Employee Polygraph Protection Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act, wage garnishment provisions of the Consumer Credit Protection Act and a number of employment standards and worker protections as provided in several immigration related statutes. Additionally, WHD administers and enforces the prevailing wage requirements of the Davis-Bacon Act and the Service Contract Act and other statutes applicable to federal contracts for construction and for the provision of goods and services.

The mission of the Department of Labor is to foster, promote and develop the welfare of the wage earners, job seekers and retirees of the United States; improve working conditions; advance opportunities for profitable employment; and assure work-related benefits and rights.