Managers took cut of workers’ tips, feds say. Now, SC restaurant must pay back $624k
A South Carolina restaurant forced its 92 employees to contribute to an illegal tip pool that included managers, according to labor department officials.
Now, the restaurant has to pay its workers back.
The Charleston restaurant, 167 Raw, required employees to share tips with management and other “typically non-tipped employees,” according to the U.S. Department of Labor.
Investigators said the restaurant also violated federal minimum wage and overtime regulations.
The restaurant did not pay employees “the difference between their direct wages and the federal minimum wage,” nor did it pay mandated overtime rates after workers exceeded a 40-hour workweek, officials said.
The labor department said it has recovered $624,017 in back wages for employees.
In 2021, the Wage and Hour Division recovered more than $34.7 million for more than 29,000 employees in the food service industry, officials said.
This story was originally published May 9, 2022 at 5:12 PM with the headline "Managers took cut of workers’ tips, feds say. Now, SC restaurant must pay back $624k."
