US Department of Labor recovers $266K in tips, damages for 34 employees of New Hampshire restaurant that kept workers’ tips

Employer name:                               Chief’s Place Pizza Restaurant Inc. doing business as Chief’s Place

Investigation site:                             348 Village St., Concord, NH 03303

Investigation findings:                      U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division investigators found the owner of a Concord restaurant kept employees’ earned tips and did not distribute them to the workers, as required by the tips provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act. Investigators also determined the employer violated child labor regulations by allowing a 14-year-old minor to work after 7 p.m. between Labor Day and June 1 and more than 3 hours on a school day.

Monies recovered for workers:       $133,075 in tips for 34 employees

                                                            $133,075 in liquidated damages for 34 employees

Civil money penalties:                      $3,395 for the tip and child labor violations

Quote:                                                “The Fair Labor Standards Act prohibits employers from keeping any portion of an employee’s tips for any purpose. Withholding them is illegal and makes it harder for workers and their families to make ends meet,” said Wage and Hour District Director Steven McKinney in Manchester, New Hampshire. “Employers can avoid costly violations like those in this case by making sure their pay practices comply with federal law. We encourage them to contact us to discuss questions they may have relative to the Fair Labor Standards Act’s wage and tip-related requirements.”

Additional information:                   Workers can use the division’s Workers Owed Wages search tool to check to see if they are owed back wages collected by the division. Employers and workers can contact the Wage and Hour Division at its toll-free number, 1-866-4-US-WAGE. 

Learn more about the Wage and Hour Division, including the agency’s restaurants compliance assistance toolkit and an overview about the FLSA protections for restaurant workers. Workers and employers alike can help ensure hours worked and pay are accurate by downloading the department’s Android and IOS Timesheet App for free in English or Spanish.