The owner of a Honolulu restaurant has been cited for illegally keeping a portion of its workers’ tips and denying overtime pay to salaried cooks who worked an average of 55 hours a week.

The U.S. Department of Labor cited R-International Inc., owner of Rinka Restaurant, for violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act and recovered $85,000 in back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages for 13 employees. The division also imposed $10,000 in civil money penalties for the reckless nature of its violations.

“By failing to pay employees all of the tips they earned and refusing to pay overtime rates to cooks as required, the owner of Rinka Restaurant violated the law and demonstrated a reckless disregard for their workers’ rights,” Wage and Hour Division District Director Terence Trotter said in a release. “This case should serve as a warning that violating federal law can have costly consequences. We encourage all employers to contact us or use department’s online resources before implementing potentially non-compliant practices.”

Since 2016, the Honolulu district office of the Wage and Hour Division has conducted 228 investigations, finding violations in 219 cases and recovering more than $1.4 million in back wages for almost 1,700 employees.

For more information about the labor law, contact its toll-free helpline at 866-4US-WAGE (487-9243).