ROANOKE, Texas — A Texas employer failed to pay its employees nearly $900,000 in tips and overtime pay, according to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division.
The North Texas restaurant Roanoke Hard Eight BBQ owed its employees all their tips and hourly managers weren’t paid the correct time and a half rate for all hours worked over 40 hours in a workweek. This came out to $867,572 in owed tips and pay for 910 workers, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.
The Fair Labor Standards Act does not allow an employer or their managers or supervisors to keep tips the business’ workers receive for any purposes, regardless of whether or not the employer claims a tip credit.
Roanoke Hard Eight broke the law by including managers in their tip pool, according to Dallas' Wage and Hour District Director Jesus A. Valdez.
"By doing so, the employer denied tipped workers some of their tips and managers proper overtime wages,” Valdez said. “As businesses struggle to find people to do the work needed to keep operating, employers would be wise to avoid violations or risk finding it even more difficult to retain and recruit workers who can choose to seek jobs where they will receive all of their rightful wages.
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