A Florida restaurant didn't pay wages to servers and forced them to work 'for tips alone', the labor department says

• A Florida restaurant forced servers to work "for tips alone" by not paying them wages, the DOL said.
• Rosy's Mexican Restaurant also didn't give other staff an overtime premium, the DOL said.

A Florida restaurant didn't pay wages to servers, forcing them to work "for tips alone," a US Department of Labor investigation found.

E & E Quezada Food Services, operator of Rosy's Mexican Restaurant in Jacksonville, "failed to pay its servers any wages, forcing them to rely on customer tips as their sole compensation," the labor department said in a press release Wednesday.

Rosy's also failed to pay dishwashers, cooks, and some servers an overtime premium when they worked more than 40 hours in a week, according to the DOL. It also didn't keep accurate payroll or shift records.

The DOL said that the restaurant owed 10 workers a combined $118,042 in back wages and liquidated damages.

"By denying servers a cash wage and forcing them to live on tips alone and denying other workers their overtime pay, Rosy's Mexican Restaurant made it harder for these employees, who depend on every dollar, to take care of themselves and their families," Wildalí De Jesús, director at the Orlando office of the DOL's Wage and Hour Division, said in the press release.

The case offers an insight into the conditions experienced by some workers in hospitality, a sector that has witnessed record staff outflows. Millions of restaurant workers quit their jobs during the pandemic because of low wages, lack of benefits, and poor working conditions. It has prompted some restaurants to offer improved wages and benefits to recruit and retain staff.

Some former hospitality staff have returned to education, taken early retirement, and flocked to better-paying jobs in other industries.

Rosy's also let a 15-year-old work after 7 p.m. during the school week, according to the DOL, which, it said, was a violation of child-labor laws under the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Florida's minimum wage is currently $10 an hour. Under state law, restaurants have to pay workers a minimum of $6.98 an hour, provided staff earn at least $3.02 an hour in tips.

Rosy's did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment, made outside of normal working hours.