Jay's Kitchen in Goldsboro, North Carolina.Google Maps
An investigation by government officials has found that the owners of an eatery in North Carolina have to pay up.
On Oct. 11, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division announced the results of an investigation of a Goldsboro-based restaurant’s wage practices. Investigators found that Mugen Inc. — operating as Jay’s Kitchen — kept workers from receiving the full wages they were owed. By keeping portions of their earned tips, owners were ordered to pay $157,287 in back wages for 65 workers who were affected by the illegal labor practices.
According to officials, Jay’s Kitchen kept a percentage of employee tips, which is a minimum wage violation under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). By keeping a portion of staff tips, Jay’s Kitchen lost the right to claim a tip credit, which means they were calculating tips they were taking from staff’s wages and pocketing the difference.
The Department of Labor said that Jay’s Kitchen thus owed their employees the difference between what they ended up paying them and the $7.25 federal minimum wage for the hours each employee worked — which ended up totaling $157,287.
In addition, officials said they also found Mugen Inc. failed to keep an accurate record of hours worked, provide the dates of birth for employees under the age of 19 and keep addresses for several employees — all record-keeping violations under the FLSA.
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