Employees forced to share tips with managers at Ohio country club, feds say

Workers at an Ohio golf course and country club were forced to share their tips with managers — and they weren’t paid when working through lunch, according to federal authorities.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division found these violations during an investigation into New Era Golf Ohio NAL Inc., an operator of a “semi-private golf course and country club” in New Albany, according to a Dec. 15 news release.

During weeks that managers participated in the tip pool, the employer lost its ability to take a tip credit, authorities said, making the golf club operator responsible for repaying tips to their workers.

“When an employer claims a tip credit, employer-required or mandatory tip pools may only include employees who customarily and regularly receive tips, even when a salaried manager works as a server or bartender,” Wage and Hour District Director Matthew Utley said in the release. “Violations like these are common in the food service industry, and the Wage and Hour Division is determined to ensure employers pay workers their full wages and benefits.”

New Era Golf Ohio did not immediately respond to a request for comment from McClatchy News on Dec. 15.

The country club’s pay records were also found to be inaccurate, officials said. The employer took “automatic deductions for lunch breaks even when workers were unable to take a break,” according to the release.

Because of this, employees did not receive minimum wage for all the hours they worked, and they did not receive accurate overtime compensation when working more than 40 hours in a week.

Federal investigators recovered $88,822 in back wages and liquidated damages for 32 of the country club’s workers, authorities said.

New Albany is northeast of Columbus in the metropolitan area.

This story was originally published December 15, 2022 at 2:18 PM with the headline "Employees forced to share tips with managers at Ohio country club, feds say."