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Operators of the Pineapple Grill at Kapalua have paid nearly $113,000 in back wages, tips and damages to 120 employees following a U.S. Department of Labor investigation.
The department’s Wage and Hour Division in Honolulu found that cash wages of tipped employees were reduced to below the $7.25 minimum wage rate, while the servers were unlawfully required to pay a portion of their tips to kitchen staff.
Kitchen staff members already were paid at or above the minimum wage.
Servers also were required to report to the restaurant before the start of their evening shifts to clean glassware, fill salt and pepper shakers and polish silverware, without compensation.
The employer has paid the workers $112,980 in tips, other back wages, and liquidated damages for the violations found under the Fair Labor Standards Act, the DOL announced Monday.
“Employers must count and pay for all hours worked by employees, including required duties that occur before and after the servers’ scheduled shift,” said Terence Trotter, the division’s district director in Honolulu, in a statement. “The Fair Labor Standards Act also prohibits any arrangement between employers and tipped employees where any part of the tip received from the customer becomes the property of the employer.”
