Bao Bao House owner kept tips, used them to pay employees, federal investigation found
Employees at a Eugene restaurant are getting back tens of thousands of dollars after a federal investigation found the owner violated labor laws.
Investigators with the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division found the owner of Bao Bao House, located at 868 W. Park St. in downtown Eugene, kept all the tips workers earned then used them to pay their wages, according to a news release.
The investigation found the owner kept around $43,000 in tips between Feb. 1, 2020 and Jan. 31, 2022, a spokesperson said.
The federal agency also found Ji Li, who owns the restaurant, wasn't keeping accurate records. Both are violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act.
Five employees will get a combined $86,026 in back wages and damages that the Department of Labor recovered from Bao Bao House. Individual employees will get between $5,000 to $35,000, a spokesperson added.
Li also will pay $1,725 in civil penalties.
The federal department is "determined to protect workers’ rights to keep all their earnings, including tips, and prevent employers from gaining a competitive advantage by reducing their labor costs," said Carrie Aguilar, who heads the Wage and Hour Division office in Portland.
"Customers’ tips to restaurant staff belong to the workers that received them. Any attempt by employers to keep those earnings is a direct violation of tipped workers’ wage rights," Aguilar said in a statement.
Finding back wages, making complaints
The Wage and Hour Division recovered more than $34.7 million in back wages for workers in the food service industry in the most recent fiscal year, according to the agency's website.
People who think they may be owed back wages collected by the division can use a search tool available at dol.gov/agencies/whd/wow.
Learn about how to make a complaint at dol.gov/agencies/whd/contact/complaints.
Contact city government watchdog Megan Banta at mbanta@registerguard.com. Follow her on Twitter @MeganBanta_1.
This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Investigation: Restaurant owner kept tips, used them to pay employees
