Jon Young, shown after the 2016 opening of Pipe Dream Brewery in Londonderry, and brewery co-owner John Bacheller of Tewksbury have been cited by the U.S. Department of Labor for withholding more than $900,000 in employee tips and overtime wages. (CARL RUSSO/Staff file photo)
LONDONDERRY — Pipe Dream Brewing is in trouble with the U.S. Department of Labor for withholding wages and tips of 44 employees, along with other liquidated damages, which amount to $912,000.
The brewery was found to have illegally kept its workers’ credit card tips and denied overtime wages to incorrectly exempted salaried workers, including brewers, bartenders, cooks and administrative staff, when they worked more than 40 hours in a work week, according to a statement from the U.S Department of Labor.
Veteran-owned Pipe Dream Brewing was founded in 2016. It is co-owned by Jon Young of Kingston and John Bacheller of Tewksbury. The West Coast-inspired taproom serves 28 beers made on site.
A federal investigation by the Wage and Hour Division recovered $456,297 in back wages and withheld tips for the employees of the brewery and taproom at 49 Harvey Road. It also yielded an equal amount in liquidated damages.
Pipe Dream Brewing was fined an additional $5,148 for the tip-related violations.
“The U.S. Department of Labor found Pipe Dream Brewing violated federal law that forbids managers, supervisors and employers from participating in tip pools or pocketing any portion of employees’ tips for any purpose,” Wage and Hour Division District Director Steven McKinney said.
“As the case’s outcome shows, denying employees their full legal wages and keeping employees’ tips can have costly consequences for employers.”
The recovery money is being distributed to the affected workers.
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