A North Texas barbecue restaurant will pay its employees over $867,000 after the U.S. Department of Labor found the restaurant violated federal law.
The Labor Department found that Hard Eight Pit BBQ in Roanoke, a chain restaurant with six locations throughout the state, shared server tips with managers — who are paid hourly.
The investigation revealed that the restaurant did not pay managers their time-and-a-half rate for overtime hours and included them in the tip pool.
“Roanoke Hard Eight violated the law by including managers in their tip pool. By doing so, the employer denied tipped workers some of their tips and managers proper overtime wages,” Wage and Hour District Director Jesus A. Valdez in Dallas said in a release earlier this month. “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.”
The Fair Labor Standards Act does not allow an employer or manager to keep workers’ tips for any purpose.
The restaurant told USA Today that they quickly changed their policies.
“We learned about the new rules during a Department of Labor review and IMMEDIATELY changed our practices. We compensated ALL affected hourly employees and former employees,” Hard Eight’s Executive Director Katie Gooch said in a statement to USA Today.
Juan Rodriguez, the Labor Department’s acting regional director for public affairs, confirmed the restaurant’s claim, according to USA Today.
“The employer paid all back wages, including overtime, after it was addressed by the Wage and Hour Division,” Mr. Rodriguez said. “The restaurant made a mistake, and they paid up. That was the outcome the department was looking for.”
Hard Eight BBQ did not respond to The Washington Times’ request for comment.
• Peter Santo can be reached at psanto@washingtontimes.com.
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