“Restaurant industry employers must know and comply with federal requirements to claim the tip credit,” says the Department of Labor (DOL). The DOL recently found a restaurant in violation of the federal tip pool regulations that protect tipped employees’ earnings. In the case, the restaurant required the tipped employees to…
On March 3, 2016, the Department of Labor (DOL) issued a press release regarding its enforcement initiative in the hospitality/restaurant industry in “college towns” stating that many companies are in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) wage and hour laws. The DOL has collected almost $100,000 for workers…
The Tampa District Office of the Department of Labor Wage & Hour Division found that the restaurant, Hibachi Buffet, failed to properly pay its servers and kitchen workers under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”). The investigators found that the restaurant violated the overtime, minimum wage, and record keeping requirements…
The Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) permits restaurants and other employers of tipped employees to receive a “tip credit” when compensating their tipped employees. The FLSA permits the employer to pay its tipped employees $2.13 per hour plus tips as long as those tips cause the employee to make at…
As part of the Department of Labor’s (“DOL”) continued focus on restaurant employees, a chain of three restaurants in New York have been ordered to pay over $1,000,000 in back wages including minimum wage and overtime. The DOL’s investigators found that the restaurant employees employed as servers and kitchen staff…
This year, the Department of Labor (“DOL”) focused on restaurants to determine whether restaurant employees were properly paid. The response was a resounding statement that the restaurant industry is vulnerable for minimum wage and overtime violations under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”). One problem is that restaurant employees do…
The federal tipped employee regulations allow restaurants to pay servers and bartenders $2.13 per hour plus tips as long as those tips bump up the worker to at least minimum wage per hour. A question that arises is whether restaurants are permitted to deduct anything from the bartenders or wait…
The area of tip pool litigation is one that has gained a lot of attention over the last few years as restaurant employees learn how they are supposed to be properly paid under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”). First, federal regulations allow restaurants to pay their tipped employees as…