Restaurant company returns more than $100k to servers
The parent company of Oahu’s three Arancino restaurants has agreed to return $107,524 in tips and back wages to 135 servers for violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act.
The total to be returned to employees comprises $86,170 in tips, and $21,354 in back wages that had been redirected or withheld.
Federal investigators found the cash wage of tipped employees was reduced below the minimum wage of $7.25 an hour, and that they were unlawfully required to pay a portion of their tips to non-tipped kitchen staff that already were paid at least minimum wage.
"Employers cannot take a credit against their minimum wage obligation to tipped staff when they required their tips to be shared with traditionally non-tipped staff such as kitchen employees," said Terence Trotter, the division’s Hawaii district director in a statement. "We appreciate the employer’s cooperation in resolving this matter expeditiously and in fairness to those affected."
Hawaii’s three Arancino locations are in Waikiki and at the Kahala resort.