Department Of Labor Orders N.C. Restaurant To Pay Back $157K To Employees After Taking Tips

The Department Of Labor (DOL) has ordered a North Carolina Restaurant to pay more than $157,000 to staffers after taking their tips.

Finurah reported that on Oct. 11, the DOL ordered Jay’s Kitchen, located in Goldsboro, North Carolina to pay back $157,287 to 65 staff members after failing to give them the tips they earned.

“Tipped workers in the food services industry rely on their hard-earned tips to make ends meet,” Richard Blaylock, district director of the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division in Raleigh, North Carolina, said in a statement, according to Finurah. “Tips are the property of the worker and, under no circumstances, may employers keep any part of their employees’ tips.”

The DOL says the company denied “the workers their full wages by keeping portions of their earned tips.” Withholding tips is a violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and is considered wage theft.

Because they took a percentage of employee tips, the DOL said Jay’s Kitchen, which is part of a group of six restaurants owned by Mugen Inc., owes the workers the difference between their paid cash wage and the federal minimum wage, according to the DOL.

Additionally, the DOL said Jay’s Kitchen violated child labor laws by allowing three 15-year-old children to work at the restaurant for more than three hours on a school day and past 7 p.m. on a school night. The restaurant was ordered to pay a civil penalty of $1,915. According to Restaurant Business Online, Jay’s Kitchen was also fined for a failure to keep an accurate record of hours worked, dates of birth for workers under 19, and a lack of an address for several employees.

In addition to Jay’s Kitchen, Mugen Inc. operates Jay’s Sushi & Burger Bar, two units of Ninja Hibachi Express, Ninja Grill, Ninja Hibachi & Burger, and Jay’s 108. All the restaurants focus on Asian Fusion.