Dos Amigos Burritos must pay workers $61,788 to workers after a U.S. Department of Labor investigation found that managers had been improperly included in the tip pool.
Under a rule that went into effect in April 2021, all tips must go to employees, not supervisors or managers. Compensation and damages recovered by the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division will go to 39 workers at the North Main Street restaurant.
The agency also found violations of child labor laws at a Dos Amigos location in Portsmouth, costing the burrito restaurant $2,073 in civil penalties. Dos Amigos was found to have allowed three 15-year-old employees to work more than 5 hours on school days and as late as 10 p.m. in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act, which restricts the hours that employees under 16 can work.
The Portsmouth Dos Amigos location closed last summer after 18 years citing a labor shortage and difficulty hiring quality staff. The company now has locations in Dover and Concord.
Dos Amigos owner Joel Harris wrote in an email to the Monitor that the restaurant was previously unaware that its managers could not participate in the tip pool and has since corrected its procedures. Managers at Dos Amigos also work in the kitchen, on the cash register and at the bar in addition to supervising other employees.
“We love our staff, we appreciate their hard work, and in an ever-changing world of rules and regulations, we are humans that make mistakes,” Harris said in a statement. “We have righted the wrong, and are using this as a learning experience to continue to better ourselves. We appreciate your support of our incredible staff and we appreciate you, our customers.”
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to include a statement from the Dos Amigos owner.