A winery in Grapevine is being asked to pay about $160,000 in damages and unpaid wages to 69 of its employees, the U.S. Department of Labor said Thursday.
The department’s Wage and Hour Division launched an investigation into Sloan & Williams Winery, located in Historic Downtown Grapevine, and found that the business had kept workers’ tips and used the money as quarterly bonuses for ineligible employees and managers, invalidating its tip pool.
According to the department’s current tip regulations, an employer cannot keep its employee’s tips under any circumstances. Regulations also state that managers and supervisors can’t keep tips received by employees, including through tip pools. It’s unclear over what period of time the winery had retained the tips and wages.
In addition to the owed wages and damages, the winery misclassified its salaried employees as exempt and did not include bonuses and commissions that were paid to its ineligible employees in its regular pay rate, the press release says. Sloan & Williams owes $79,263 in wages and $79,263 in liquidated damages to 69 workers.
The winery did not respond to requests for comment Thursday.
The investigation also found that the winery had allowed two minors, a 14- and 15-year-old, to work at the company during un-permitted times, resulting in $1,582 in child labor law violations.
The winery also did not keep an accurate record of hours worked and payroll records for its employees.
Alan W. Kunst Jr. and Ralph S. Mattison Jr. opened Sloan & Williams Winery’s Grapevine location in 2014. Wines are sourced from Texas and California, and the winery also serves tapas and other small bites. It opened a Lewisville location in 2019, which later closed.
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