HONOLULU – Arancino Restaurants, operating three full-service restaurants in Honolulu, has returned $86,170 in tips and $21,354 in back wages to 135 servers for violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act.
Wage and Hour investigators found the cash wage of tipped employees was reduced below the minimum wage of $7.25 per hour without allowing them to fully retain their tips.
Servers were unlawfully required to pay a portion of their tips to non-tipped hourly kitchen staff that were already paid at least minimum wage.
“Employers cannot take a credit against their minimum wage obligation to tipped staff when they required their tips to be shared with traditionally non-tipped staff such as kitchen employees,” said Terence Trotter, the division’s district director in Hawaii.
“We appreciate the employer’s cooperation in resolving this matter expeditiously and in fairness to those affected.”
Report from the US Dept. of Labor