Managers shared in tip pool; minors worked excess hours, with dangerous equipment
MANCHESTER, NH – A federal investigation recovered $36,106 in back wages and liquidated damages from a Cape Elizabeth, Maine, café, bakery and market for 86 employees after finding the employer denied some workers their full wages and allowed minor-aged workers to perform hazardous jobs and work more hours than allowed by law.
U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division investigators found C Salt Gourmet Market LLC improperly included managers in the employees’ tip pool and did not pay two workers proper overtime for hours over 40 in a workweek. An employer cannot keep employees’ tips under any circumstances; managers and supervisors also may not keep tips received by employees, including through tip pools. This prohibition applies even if tipped workers are paid hourly at rates equal to or above the full minimum wage.
Investigators also found the employer permitted 10 workers, ages 14- and 15-years-old, to work hours in excess of the federal legal limits. The employer also allowed three 14- and 15-year-olds to use an oven and a 15-year-old to use a deep-fat fryer not equipped with devices to automatically raise and lower the fry baskets, which are violations of child labor occupations standards. In addition, three 14- and 15-year-olds cleaned and operated a power-driven meat slicer – activity prohibited for workers under age 18 by the Fair Labor Standards Act’s Hazardous Occupation...
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