Ice cream shop kept 144 workers’ tips in Florida, feds say. It owed over $169,000

Customers’ tips left for workers at an ice cream shop in Florida never went to more than 100 of its employees — because the company kept them instead, federal officials say.

Marble Slab Creamery’s shop in Panama City Beach owed 144 employees money after the location’s franchisee illegally held onto the tips, an investigation revealed, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

Keeping any amount of employees’ tips is illegal under federal law.

Now the ice cream franchisee, Marble Slab Creamery of Pier Park Inc., has paid the workers $169,638 in back wages after violating the Fair Labor Standards Act, the agency announced in a Feb. 14 news release.

“Tips are property of the workers who earn them regardless of the hourly rate an employer pays,” Wildalí De Jesús, the DOL’s Wage and Hour Division director of its Orlando office, said in a statement.

“Many food service industry workers rely on their legally earned tips as part of their income.”

All Marble Slab Creamery shops are independently owned, a Marble Slab Creamery corporate spokesperson told McClatchy News on Feb. 16.

“When alerted of the situation, we reached out to the (Panama City Beach) franchisee who confirmed this matter has been resolved, the tips have been paid, and that his store has adjusted their practices to prevent this from occurring in the future,” the spokesperson said.

There are several Marble Slab Creamery shops in Florida, including in Orlando, St. Augustine, Destin and Pensacola. Other states with locations include Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Texas, New York and more.

In total, the company runs 392 locations internationally.

The Wage and Hour Division has resources to help employers and companies avoid similar workplace violations, De Jesús emphasized. The agency also assured workers can call to ask questions confidentially to “help ensure hours worked and pay are accurate.”

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