Tips, Tip Pools, and Tip Sharing 

Seriously: Can My Employer Legally Do That?

If the federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour, then how do some employers (specifically, restaurants) get away with paying employees less – in some cases as little as $2.13 per hour? You may be thinking, well I earn more than $7.25 after accounting for the tips I receive. This is probably true; however, your employer is still paying you less than $7.25 per hour. Those tips aren’t coming from your employer’s pocket, but are earned by you for the service you provided to your customers. However, there is a section within the minimum wage law that allows an employer to take a “credit” for the tips an employee receives against the $7.25 per hour minimum wage.

This law – known as the “tip credit” – is rather complex and rigid in application. If an employer violates – accidentally or intentionally – the tip credit, then the employer is disavowed from using the tip credit and must pay the employee back wages at the full minimum wage, which can be a significant sum, especially for servers who are often paid as little as $2.13 per hour. There are countless ways that employers violate the tip-credit, thereby depriving employees of a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work.

Below is a list of what we call “illegal tipping practices” that our firm frequently sees being employed by restaurants.

Who do Tips belong to?

First and foremost, any tip that an employee receives from a customer, belongs to the employee and the employer is prohibited from sharing in these tips, with a single exception. The one exception being, an employer may deduct the actual cost to process a credit card tip, but nothing more. To illustrate, I recently obtained a sizable settlement for a group of servers working at a restaurant that was deducting a 5% credit card processing fee for tips; however, as it turns out, the restaurant’s credit card processing fee was only 3%. This extra deduction resulted in a large settlement to my clients. The important thing to keep in mind here, is tips belong solely to the server, and the employer may not share or skim from a server’s tips, save an except the actual cost of the credit processing fee.

Are Mandatory Tip Pools Legal?

We are also often asked about mandatory tip pools. An employer can require employees to share their tips; however, not all tip pools are legal. In this context, there are heaps of legal issues that an employee should look out for. First, an employee cannot be forced to share tips or contribute to a tip pool where the owners, the chef, dishwasher, or managers are sharing in the tip pool. Yes, if you are required to share your tips with the chef, dishwasher, or a manager, then this is an illegal tip pool; your employer is violating the federal wage laws.

One issue that often arises is employees aren’t sure who is sharing in the tip-out of a tip pool. I recently obtained a settlement from a restaurant where the servers discovered the employer was skimming the tip pool by talking to the hosts and bartenders, wherein they were tipped off (excuse the pun) that the tip-out was too low, meaning some of the tipped pool was going elsewhere.  As it turns out in that case, the owners and managers were skimming funds from the tip pool for themselves. The practice of owners or managers skimming money from tip pool or failing to redistribute the entire amount of tip pool is illegal.

Can My Employer Make Deductions from my Wages or Tips?

We also get lots of questions about wage deductions or whether an employer can require employees to pay for certain items. As a general matter, if you are paid less than $7.25 per hour (i.e. a tipped employee), an employer is probably violating the law if he or she makes any deductions from your wages or tips other than deductions for taxes or credit card fees. For instance, if an employer requires tipped employees to pay for broken glasses (glass breakage fee), returned food items, uniforms, etc., then the employer is violating the federal wage laws.

Can My Employer Keep my Tips or Gratuities?

Last, there is often a lot of confusion by employers and employees alike regarding the payment of gratuities versus tips. Yes, there is a difference between a gratuity and a tip. A “gratuity” is something that is mandatory and is not subject to negotiation. The principal example of a gratuity is a required charge of 20% for tables of six or more people. Whereas a “tip” is something that is completely left up to the discretion of the customer; the obvious example being cash left on the table or money voluntarily added to the bill by the customer.

The difference between a tip and a gratuity is important because a tip (see above) belongs to the employee. However, a gratuity legally belongs to the employer-restaurant. In other words, if you work a banquet, and the customer is paying your employer a mandatory, fixed amount service charge as part of the cost of the banquet, this gratuity does not have to be redistributed to the employees. However, if you are not earning “tips” during the time you worked the banquet, then your employer cannot use the tip credit and must be paying you at least the full minimum wage for the hours you worked.  This remains true even if your employer elects to distribute the gratuities to you – you still must be paid the full minimum wage before accounting for any gratuities received.

Conclusion

In sum, servers are often the most taken advantage of group in terms of wages. However, the good news is that there are strict laws protecting servers. If you are receiving tips as part of your pay and you have questions about your employer’s policies, you can contact an employment lawyer at Herrmann Law by calling 817-479-9229 or submitting your case online and we will contact you. I find that restaurants are some of the most common violators of the wage laws. You can also look at my blog, where you may find the answer to your questions //paycheckcollector.com/blog/

***Addition:

Prospective clients often ask us how employees can afford to hire an attorney to sue an employer who is violation wage laws. The answer is simple: our firm represents employees with unpaid overtime, wage, and tip claims on a contingency basis. This means you don’t owe us anything for our fees (our time or any expenses) unless and until we secure a recovery on your behalf. If you do not recover anything, you do not owe us for our time or any of the expenses we incurred.

Call the Employee Rights Attorneys at Herrmann Law Today

For more information, call the Employee Rights attorneys at Herrmann Law. If you think that your employer has violated your rights as an employee, call us. We are proven, experienced, employee-focused attorneys representing workers across the United States in all types of workplace disputes. Use our Online Contact page or call us at (817) 479-9229. We are more than just a law firm for employees – we are an employee’s fiercest advocate, equipping employees with the legal representation needed to achieve the best result possible.

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This article was originally published here. (www.thebitchywaiter.com)