Red Mesa Restaurant and Red Mesa Cantina withheld workers' wages to cover operating costs, violated other laws, U.S. Dept. of Labor said.

ST. PETERSBURG, FL — More than $190,000 in back wages were recovered after federal investigators found that St. Petersburg restaurants withheld wages to cover operating costs, according to a U.S. Department of Labor news release.

Investigators with the agency’s Wage and Hour Division found that Red Mesa Inc., operating as Red Mesa Restaurant at 4912 4th Street N., and Veytia Ventures LLC, operating as Red Mesa Cantina at 128 3rd Street S., violated several provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act, including forcing workers to cover the cost of customer walkouts.

When customers skipped out on their bills, the restaurants withheld tips earned by bartenders and servers to pay for these orders, the department said. The amount withheld ranged from $10 to $175 daily.

The eateries also illegally charged employees for their uniforms, deducting the cost from their wages. This caused some workers to earn less than minimum wage, according to the USDL.

They also paid an incorrect overtime rate to tipped employees and didn’t combine hours for employees who worked at both restaurants during the same work week.

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Because of this, the restaurants paid overtime rates lower than those required by law for employees working more than 40 hours in a work week, the agency said. And...

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