As many of you have read, Black Bear Burritos learned a very expensive lesson. We would like to take this opportunity to make clear the fact that, yes, we made a mistake. When the Department of Labor approached us and made us aware of our mistake, we made the necessary changes to our policies and followed all instructions provided to us by the Department of Labor regarding back pay and the necessary steps to correct the mistakes that we made. It was our desire, as we did in March of 2013, to correct the mistakes we made in the past and comply with all laws and regulations regarding this matter moving forward. We would, however, like to point out a few details of the mistake we made. The mistake we made involves the sharing of tips with each and every trained employee, both front of house and back of house. Prior to any communications with the Department of Labor, we split all tips taken in on any given day evenly amongst ALL trained employees, including managers, based on how many hours they worked on that day. We did this with the full knowledge and understanding of each and every employee that did and ever has worked for us in an attempt to create equality amongst our entire staff while keeping everyone working towards the same goal. Our policies were outlined in great detail in our Employee Handbook. We did not pocket a penny of gratuity; we just distributed them incorrectly by including kitchen staff and general managers in that distribution. The illegal tip pool that is mentioned in the Department of Labor’s findings refers to this system that we created and used. When a tip pool is deemed illegal, it voids the entire tip pool, resulting in the minimum wage violation that occurred. We hope that Black Bear Burritos and Black Bear Evansdale will continue to be seen by you, our customers and supporters, in the same light that we were before this situation occurred. We have in the past and will continue to try to run a business that is successful while also acting responsibly and transparently in the eyes of our employees and our customers. Black Bear has always tried to make a difference in the lives of their employees, in the lives of their customers and in the lives of those living in the community in which we do business. We will learn from this mistake and continue to operate with the same mission statement and ideology that we always have.
Posted on: Thu, 15 May 2014 14:32:58 +0000
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