A federal investigation of Provision PGH at the Federal Galley in Pittsburgh has recently recovered $41,560 in illegal tip allocations for 12 employees.

Provision PGH LLC, operator of the restaurant, violated the Fair Labor Standards Act “by claiming a tip credit and keeping tips to share with employees not eligible to participate in a tip pool,” the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Wage and Hour Division (WHD) found, according to a DOL press release.

“Tipped employees, such as cashiers, had their tips seized in order to pay the wages of non-tipped employees, including managers,” the release said. “The employer used a portion of the pooled tips to pay part of the salaries of managers, in violation of the FLSA.”

The WHD has recovered more than $195 million in back wages from food services since 2016, the release said.

“Provision PGH LLC shortchanged its employees by retaining tips and not complying with the tip credit rules laid out in the Fair Labor Standards Act,” WHD District Director in Pittsburgh John DuMont said in the release. “Restaurant workers are essential workers who depend on their tips to earn a living. They should be paid every penny of their hard-earned wages.”

The FLSA, which establishes minimum wage and overtime pay for private, federal, state and local employees, provides covered nonexempt workers a “minimum wage of not less than $7.25 per hour,” the release said. Employers may alternatively pay $2.13 per hour to tipped workers and take a credit against the tips to meet the requirement.

“The employer, however, must notify tipped employees of any required tip pool contribution amount, may only take a tip credit for the amount of tips each tipped employee actually receives, and may not retain any of the employees' tips for any other purpose,” the DOL said.