Nearly every Austin-area restaurant investigated last fiscal year by the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division failed to pay workers their fair wage in direct violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act.
Ninety-five percent of area restaurants investigated from Oct. 1, 2015 to June 30, 2016 were in violation of the law. More than $330,000 in back wages were recovered for more than 500 Austin restaurant workers, according to findings announced today by the DOL.
The investigation's findings are actually an improvement from the previous year when federal officials found 98 percent of restaurants in violation of the same statute.
“The current level of noncompliance found in these investigations is not acceptable,” said David Weil, administrator of the Wage and Hour Division, in a statement. “WHD will continue to use every tool we have available to combat this issue. This includes vigorous enforcement as well as outreach to employer associations and worker advocates to ensure that Austin restaurant workers receive a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work."
Here's an overview of common violations cited by DOL officials:
- Requiring employees to work exclusively for tips, with no regard to minimum-wage standards.
- Making illegal deductions from workers’ wages for walkouts, breakages, credit card transaction fees and cash register shortages, which reduce wages below the required minimum wage.
- Paying straight-time wages for overtime hours worked.
- Calculating overtime incorrectly for servers based on their $2.13 per hour base rates before tips, instead of the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour.
- Failing to pay proper overtime for salaried non-exempt cooks.
- Creating illegal tip pools involving kitchen staff.
- Failing to maintain accurate and thorough records of employees’ wages and work hours.
- Committing significant child labor violations, such as allowing minors to operate and clean hazardous equipment, including dough mixers and meat slicers.
More information may be revealed during a Wednesday press event in which Weil is expected to comment further on the investigation.
Joe Lanane’s career is rooted in community journalism, having worked for a variety of Midwest-area publications before landing south of the Mason-Dixon line in 2011 as the Stillwater News-Press news editor. He arrived at Community Impact Newspaper in 2012, gaining experience as editor of the company’s second-oldest publication in Leander/Cedar Park. He eventually became Central Austin editor, covering City Hall and the urban core of the city.
Lanane leveraged that experience to become Austin managing editor in 2016. He managed eight Central Texas editions from Georgetown to San Marcos. Working from company headquarters, Lanane also became heavily involved in enacting corporate-wide editorial improvements. In 2017, Lanane was promoted to executive editor, overseeing editorial operations throughout the company. The Illinois native received his bachelor’s degree from Western Illinois University and his journalism master’s degree from Ball State University.
