Department of Labor recovers $272K in back wages from bars, restaurants’ operator who denied full wages to 133 employees at six Omaha locations

OMAHA, NE – A U.S. Department of Labor investigation has recovered $272,163 in overtime back wages for 133 workers employed by an Omaha-based operator of six bars, restaurants and live music venues that used a tip pool illegally, and denied servers and salaried employees correct overtime wages.

Investigators with the department’s Wage and Hour Division found Maven Act II LLC violated provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act at six of its locations when they did the following:

• Included salaried managers when it instituted tip pools for servers. By doing so, the employer lost their ability to take a tip credit in workweeks when managers shared servers’ tips.
• Paid some servers time and one-half their cash wage in periods when the employer claimed a tip credit. The employer should have paid time and one-half the employees’ regular hourly rate.
• Classified workers as exempt from overtime but did not meet the necessary requirements. By doing so, the employer failed to pay time and one-half their pay rate for hours over 40 in a workweek.
• Did not maintain time records from May 2020 until January 2021.

The division also assessed $6,930 in civil money penalties for violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

“Servers and bartenders are often among our nation’s lowest paid workers. Making a living by depending on busy shifts and customers’ whims is hard enough, without being forced to overcome employers who fail to pay them as the law requires,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Marietta Taylor in Des Moines, Iowa. “Our investigation found Maven Act II LLC misused its tip pool and denied dozens of employees all of their hard-earned wages by violating federal overtime laws.”

The division identified violations at the following Omaha locations, and recovered wages for employees as follows:

In addition to the six establishments included in the division’s investigation, Maven Act II LLC also operates Maven Bar, a mobile bar service, and Maven Ice, a commercial craft ice company.

The department’s Quick Service Restaurants Compliance Assistance Toolkit explains wage laws for the industry.

For more information about the FLSA and other laws enforced by the Wage and Hour Division, contact the division’s toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243). Learn more about the Wage and Hour Division, including a search tool to use if you think you may be owed back wages collected by the division. Download the agency’s new Timesheet App for Android and Apple devices to ensure hours and pay are accurate.