Our lead attorney: John F. Kennedy has two decades of experience enforcing the legal rights of employees to their rights under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act and the D.C. Payment and Collection of Wages Act, D.C. Code 32-1301 et seq.Six Hawaii restaurants in the upscale Roy’s chain got busted for forcing the wait staff to share its tips with the kitchen staff.
A U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) investigation resulted in Roy’s Holdings Inc. agreeing to pay $225,000 in tips and back wages to 326 servers. The DOL determined that the wage violation was not willful; that is, the restaurants didn’t understand that they had violated the law, and officials gave the company credit for correcting the problem quickly, and also developing a plan to ensure compliance with the law.
It’s not against the law for servers to tip kitchen workers voluntarily, but it violates the Fair Labor Standards Act to require servers, who work for less than minimum wage, to share their tips with the kitchen workers, who make at least minimum wage.
In addition to the problem with tips, one restaurant was fined $1,550 for allowing a minor to load a trash compactor. That is considered a hazardous occupation for workers younger than 18.
Read the whole story on WestHawaiiToday.com.
