KALAMAZOO (WKZO-AM) — The U.S. Department of Labor has come down hard on the owners of Sophia’s Pancake House restaurants in Kalamazoo and Benton Harbor.
They were purportedly requiring workers to pay fees and kickbacks. Now, the owner of the restaurants have been ordered to doll out nearly $250,000 in back pay and damages to 118 current and former employees.
The restaurant was charging its workers $2 an hour from tips, cheating them on overtime and making them pay for missed orders and uniforms.
Many of the workers weren’t making minimum wage after the paycheck deductions.
District Director Mary O’Rourke said the restaurants will not only have to reimburse workers but retrain managers, install computer safeguards to track tips and give employees wage statements, according to a press release.
– John McNeill
