Clementines, Clementines’s Too Reach Settlement With U.S. Dept. Of Labor

money223-8
money223-8

A settlement has been reached between Clementine’s in South Haven, Clementine’s Too in St. Joseph, and the U.S. Department of Labor. On Facebook, the restaurant says they were investigated in November by the Labor Department and told it was random. Issues were found with one job position who received tips from wait staff and bartenders from the tip pool. That job is the “Expeditor,” and that person delivers food to customers at the bar and for take-out orders and trays up the food for the wait staff. To fix the issue, the Labor Department and Clementines have reached a deal where the restaurant will repay the money paid in tips to the Expeditor to the wait staff and bartenders. The statement from Clementines adds “The judgment calls it a ‘minimum wage issue’ because a server is considered, under labor guidelines, a minimum wage employee, even though with their tips they make far above minimum wage. By having them share a small portion of their tips with the Expeditor, their wage, by definition, was below minimum wage.”