The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered $86,000 for five employees and fined the parent of Bao Bao House in Eugene, Ore., in a scheme to use tips as wages, the agency said late last week.
Portland, Ore., agency’s Wage and Hour Divisionin a press release, said LI&YU Restaurant LLC, operating as Bao Bao House, of Eugene, “kept all tips earned by workers.”
The Labor Department said the company “kept all tips workers received from customers and used the money to pay employee wages. Li also failed to keep accurate records. Both are violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act.”
The department recovered $43,013 in back wages for five employees and $43,013 in liquidated damages. The agency also assessed a civil penalty of $1,725.
“The U.S. Department of Labor is committed to protecting the rights of workers to keep all of their earnings, including tips, and to prevent employers from gaining a competitive advantage by lowering their labor costs, ” said Carrie Aguilar, director of the Portland district’s wage and hour division. , in a statement.
“Customer tips for restaurant staff belong to the workers who received them,” Aguilar continued. “Any attempt by employers to withhold those profits is a direct violation of tipped workers’ wage rights.”
The Wage and Hour Division added that in 2021 it recovered more than $31.7 million in back wages for workers in the food service industry.
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