Don Pancho Mexican Restaurant to pay over $500,000 in back wages after investigation

JACKSON, Tenn.  — Don Pancho Mexican Restaurant, headquartered in Clarksville, Tennessee, will pay $563,350 in back wages to 120 employees, according to a news release.

The release states an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) found three of the restaurant’s Tennessee locations — Mount Juliet, Ashland City and Jackson — violated minimum wage, overtime and recordkeeping policies put in place by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

According to the release, the locations kept a percentage of servers’ tips to offset restaurant expenses, failed to record all hours employees worked, and paid some workers flat salaries without compensation for overtime.

The investigation also found one location violated child labor laws by employing a 15-year-old to work outside hours allowed by law for that age group.

The WHD also assessed the restaurant a $683 civil penalty for violating child labor provisions of the FLSA.

The owner of Don Poncho in Mt. Juliet in Middle Tennessee reached out to WBBJ 7 Eyewitness to say that the infractions occurred before the current ownership of that restaurant.