Pho 79 to pay back wages, tips

Davie-based restaurant chain stole tips from employees

Pho 79, a Davie-based restaurant chain with six South Florida locations, has been ordered to pay $314,553 in wages and tips stolen from employees, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

An investigation by the federal agency’s Wage and Hour Division found that Pho 79 “illegally diverted” federal overtime pay and tips for 65 employees. Doing the math, that means each restaurant worker, on average, is owed $4,839.27 apiece.

The Vietnamese chain – in Davie, Sunrise, Coral Springs, Boynton Beach, Miami and Pinecrest – lists different owners for each location, according to property records. Jacky Truong, Pho 79’s cofounder, is listed as a registered agent for multiple locations. The federal agency found that Pho 79:

■ “Paid cooks, dishwashers and kitchen helpers a flat daily rate or weekly salary regardless of the number of hours they worked,” even though employees exceeded 40 hours, a violation of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act.

■ “Illegally diverted all gratuities to the restaurant – failing to give employees any of the tips,” another FLSA violation.

■ “Failed to maintain an accurate record of the number of hours employees worked,” which is required by law.

■ Did not “keep a record of employees’ contact information.”

■ Did not “display a FLSA minimum wage

poster in each establishment.”

It was unclear how long Pho 79 had to remedy the violations. In a Friday email, Eric Lucero, a U.S. Department of Labor spokesman, said the violations happened between 2017 and 2019 — before the COVID-19 pandemic — and that Pho 79’s owner “agreed to future compliance.”

Lucero declined to say how the agency initially learned about Pho 79. The federal agency offers a confidential complaint form on its website.

Employees who answered the phone at each location Thursday said they

were operating as usual. An employee who answered in Davie, Pho 79’s flagship location, said the manager wasn’t working Thursday.

“Employers may not keep tips received by employees,” said Tony Pham, Wage and Hour’s division district director in Miami. “The Wage and Hour Division will continue working to ensure that workers receive all the wages they have legally earned, and that employers compete on a level playing field.”