A North Side sushi restaurant has been ordered to pay 33 workers a combined $81,308 in back wages after federal investigators found its owner let company executives skim from employee tip pools and shorted salaried staff on overtime. The U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division announced the recovery on Wednesday, September 23, 2026, against Hongwei Sushi LLC, the corporate entity operating Sushi Haya, an all-you-can-eat Japanese restaurant at 226 W. Bitters Road.
According to the MySA report on the enforcement order, federal investigators determined that Sushi Haya's tip pool illegally shared employee gratuities with company executives, a direct violation of federal rules barring employers, managers, and executives from taking any share of workers' tips. The same investigation found that Sushi Haya paid its nonexempt employees a fixed salary without providing the time-and-a-half overtime premium required once staff worked beyond 40 hours in a week, per the outlet's reporting.
The San Antonio Express-News reported that, as part of the order, Sushi Haya was required to forfeit its tip credit and was assessed a $1,980 civil penalty on top of the back wages owed to the 33 affected employees.
Why Manager Tip-Sharing Is Illegal
Why Manager Tip-Sharing Is Illegal Federal rules prohibit managers and supervisors from keeping any portion of employee tips or participating in a tip pool.
That rule has repeatedly tripped up Texas restaurant operators. And in Houston, a federal judge this past March ordered Perry's Steakhouse & Grille to pay more than $21 million in back wages, misappropriated tips, and damages over a similarly unlawful tip-pool scheme, Hoodline reported in its coverage of the Perry’s Steakhouse judgment.
A Pattern of Local Enforcement
A Pattern of Local Enforcement Earlier this month, the department also recovered back wages and assessed $45,000 in civil penalties against three San Antonio locations of La Panaderia Bakery & Café over child labor, minimum wage, and overtime violations, per official department records reported by KENS 5.
It's unclear whether Hongwei Sushi LLC operates additional locations in Texas, or whether the restaurant has changed its managerial pay and tipping practices since the federal order.
