US Department of Labor recovers $867K in wages for 910 restaurant workers denied their full tips, overtime wages by employer’s illegal pay practices

Employer name:                    Roanoke Hard Eight LLC

Investigation site:                  Roanoke, Texas

Investigation findings: The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division found the employer failed to pay tipped employees all their tips and hourly managers weren’t paid the correct time and a half rate for all hours worked over 40 in a work week. The Fair Labor Standards Act does not allow an employer or their managers or supervisors to keep tips the business’ workers receive for any purposes, regardless of whether or not the employer claims a tip credit.

Back wages recovered:         $867,572 in owed tips and overtime to 910 workers

“Roanoke Hard Eight violated the law by including managers in their tip pool. By doing so, the employer denied tipped workers some of their tips and managers proper overtime wages,” explained Wage and Hour District Director Jesus A. Valdez in Dallas. “As businesses struggle to find people to do the work needed to keep operating, employers would be wise to avoid violations or risk finding it even more difficult to retain and recruit workers who can choose to seek jobs where they will receive all of their rightful wages.”