Surfside Beach restaurant owes its servers $75K, Department of Labor says. Here’s why
A Surfside Beach restaurant owes its workers more than $75,000 after a federal investigation revealed managers were shortchanging their employees by making them share their tips.
Ten employees of Sarku Hibachi Grill & Buffet were illegally forced to share their tips with the establishment’s manager and owner, according to a news release put out by the U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division.
The Department of Labor investigation revealed the owner and manager of Sarku Hibachi Grill & Buffet violated the Fair Labor Standards Act — which establishes the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour — by paying servers less than $3 an hour and requiring them to share their tips, according to the news release.
The Department of Labor is requiring the restaurant to pay $75,953 back in shared tips and the difference between their hourly wage and the federal minimum wage for the hours they worked.
The investigation also found that the employer did not keep a record of the hours the kitchen cooks worked.
“Restaurant servers work hard and put their safety at risk throughout the pandemic. They depend on diners’ tips to earn a living wage,” the news release states.
“Restaurant workers are essential workers. They work hard for their tips and rely on them to pay their bills and feed their families,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Jamie Benefiel in Columbia, South Carolina, according to the press release.
“Restaurant owners must understand that keeping workers’ tips or requiring workers to share tips with managers or supervisors is illegal.”
Benefiel said the U.S. Department of Labor is “just a phone call away” and urged workers who think they may be owed back wages to use the division’s online search tool.
This story was originally published August 30, 2021 at 12:42 PM.
