South Florida restaurant chain stole tips, shorted workers $314,000 in pay, Labor says
A restaurant chain spanning Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties will pay $314,553 in back pay after an investigation found “Illegally diverted” tips and federal overtime pay violations, the U.S. Department of Labor announced Wednesday.
Pho 79 shorted 65 workers at its six South Florida locations, Labor said. That works out to the Vietnamese restaurant chain owing an average of $4,839.27 per worker.
State records say each Pho 79 location is registered as its own corporation. The one common officer at each is Jacky Truong, the registered agent for the first Florida location, which opened in Davie.
Labor’s Wage and Hour investigators checked out Pho 79 and found the chain’s South Florida stores:
▪ “Illegally diverted all gratuities to the restaurant – failing to give employees any of the tips...” That violates the Fair Labor Standards Act.
▪ “...paid cooks, dishwashers and kitchen helpers a flat daily rate or weekly salary regardless of the number of hours they worked.” When that goes over 40 hours, that’s also an FLSA violation.
▪ Didn’t keep “an accurate record of the number of hours employees worked.” Though an incongruous shortcoming for a business that relies heavily on hourly workers, it’s a common companion violation with businesses busted for not paying earned overtime.
▪ Didn’t keep a record of employees’ contact information.
▪ Didn’t put up a poster informing employees of their FLSA minimum wage rights, as required by law
“Employers may not keep tips received by employees,” said Wage and Hour Division District Director Tony Pham. “The Wage and Hour Division will continue working to ensure that workers receive all the wages they have legally earned, and that employers compete on a level playing field.”
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