Restaurant owner forced servers to return wages, keep only tips and $10 per week

WAUSEON, Ohio (Gray News) – A restaurant owner in Ohio is accused of forcing servers to pay their wages back to him in cash, allowing workers to keep just the tips they earned plus $10 a week, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

The DOL said in a news release servers and cooks at Los Mariachis worked an average of 60 hours a week.

Owner Ruben Lopez paid the cooks a straight salary for all 60 hours they worked weekly, denying them overtime wages due for hours over 40 per week, the DOL investigation found.

Authorities also determined the employer failed to keep accurate time and payroll records.

The investigation recovered $245,509 in back wages for six servers and 12 cooks at Los Mariachis.

“No server should be forced to work for just tips and $10 per week, and no cook should be paid straight time for 20 hours of overtime,” Wage and Hour Division District Director Matthew Utley said.

“Payment of at least the minimum wage and overtime has been the law of the land for 85 years, and every person working in the U.S. has the right to be paid their full-earned wages.”