Texas Restaurant Fails To Pay Employees Nearly $900K In Tips And Overtime

A Texas barbecue restaurant is in hot water after it failed to pay its employees nearly $900,000 in tips and overtime hours.

The U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division said Hard Eight BBQ, located in Roanoke, Texas, owes its 910 workers $867,572 in tips and the correct time-and-a-half overtime pay for managers, according to KHOU.

According to the Fair Labor Standards Act, employers, managers or supervisors are not allowed to keep their employees' tips for any reason, regardless whether or not the employer claims a tip credit. Hard Eight BBQ also broke the law by including managers in their tip pool, Dallas Wage and Hour District Director Jesus A. Valdez told KHOU.

"By doing so, the employer denied tipped workers some of their tips and managers proper overtime wages. As businesses struggle to find people to do the work needed to keep operating, employers would be wise to avoid violations or risk finding it even more difficult to retain and recruit workers who can choose to seek jobs where they will receive all of their rightful wages," Valdez said.