More and more restaurant owners are being fined for stiffing employees on tips. The latest is in South Carolina.

NBC News affiliate WCBD reports:

“The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) on Monday announced thousands of dollars in tips recovered for workers at a Downtown Charleston restaurant who had been forced to participate in an illegal tip pool.

According to the DOL, management at 167 Raw on King Street ‘required tipped employees to share tips illegally,’ splitting the funds between ‘management and other typically non-tipped employees.’ The restaurant also ‘failed to pay tipped employees the difference between their direct wages and the federal minimum wage’ and paid less than the federal requirement for overtime rates.

The investigation found 92 workers were shortchanged a total of $624,017 as a result of the illegal financial structure.

Wage and Hour Division District Director, Jamie Benefiel, explained that such violations ‘are common in the restaurant industry, and they can quickly add up to costly consequences.’

Benefiel went on to say ‘restaurant industry employers must know and comply with federal requirements to claim the tip credit,’ and that ‘retaining and recruiting workers is more difficult when employers fail to respect workers’ rights and pay them their full wages.'”

For the rest of the story, visit WBCD here.