ROANOKE, Texas (NEXSTAR) – An audit of a barbecue business in Denton County, Texas, revealed the company failed to pay 910 workers their full tips and appropriate overtime pay – a total of $867,572 owed, according to the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) Wage and Hour Division.
The department says Roanoke Hard Eight LLC, located in Roanoke, Texas, split tips between tipped employees and hourly managers, a violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act. Additionally, the department says hourly managers weren’t paid their correct time-and-a-half rates for overtime worked.
DOL says Roanoke Hard Eight LLC has “cooperated fully” with the investigation. Nexstar has reached out to Hard Eight but hasn’t heard back yet. Hard Eight BBQ Chief Operating Officer Matt Perry told NBC News the violation was a misunderstanding of 2019 changes to the Wages and the Fair Labor Standards Act, which bars managers and employers from keeping tipped workers’ tips for any reason.
Perry said managers were originally included because they are as heavily involved as tipped workers are. The company said it made immediate changes once it became aware of the violations and gave managers a raise to adjust for the loss of tips.
DOL told Nexstar the business paid about 219 employees directly and disbursed the rest of the back wages to the department for employees they couldn’t locate. The DOL says it’s collected the money owed to these employees.
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