Another restaurant enterprise, with two stores in West Virginia, has acknowledged violating minimum wage and overtime pay laws as the result of a U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) investigation.

Black Bear Burritos LLC will pay $232,295 in back wages to 105 workers, and has promised to comply with wage laws going forward.

The investigation showed that Black Bear illegally required servers to share tips. Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, tips belong to the employees who receive them, although management may credit tips toward its obligation to pay minimum wage. An employer may not take an employee’s tips for a tip pool, and if an employee’s tips combined with the employer’s direct wages do not equal minimum wage, the employer must pay the difference during that pay period.

The investigation also revealed that salaried managers illegally received money from the tip pool.

In a statement, Black Bear said, “We did not pocket a penny of gratuity; we just distributed them incorrectly by including kitchen staff and general managers in that distribution.”

And, it seems, many of the restaurants’ workers respect their employer. On former employee said, “This is a wonderful … business, run by two honest and hard-working family men from WV.”

Read the whole story on WBOY.com.